Assessment of the distribution, bioavailability and ecological risk assessment of heavy metals in the coastal sediments of Qeshm Island (Hormozgan)

Sediment samples were collected from 8 sites in the northern areas of Qeshm Island, Iran to determine the total and partial concentrations of heavy metals including copper (Cu), lead (Pb), nickel (Ni), cadmium (Cd), and Iron (Fe), in February 2016. A combination of nitric acid and perchloric acid was used to determine the total concentrations and sequential extraction method was used to analyze the partial concentrations of different geochemical parts of the sediment. Metal concentrations were measured by flame atomic absorption spectrometry. Contamination factor (CF), pollution load indices (PLI), enrichment factor (EF), geoaccumulation index (Igeo), risk assessment code (RAC) and potential ecological risk (PER) were calculated to determine the ecological risk. The results showed that the concentrations of heavy metals were Fe>Ni>Pb>Cu>Cd, respectively. The results of sequential extraction showed that Cd (25.98%) and Cu (21.40%) had the highest bioavailability among the other heavy metals. Most of each element was in the part of reducible (Fe-Mn oxide bound) (F3) and residual (F5). According to the RAC, only Cu and Cd were identified as high-risk at Station 5, and for other stations and other metals, the results showed low, medium or no risk. Evaluation of enrichment factor showed significant contamination for most of the metals tested, including Cd, Ni and Pb, which confirms the results from other indices. Finally, it can be said that the results of various indices that have been measured in relation to the mentioned heavy metals, showed that these elements have low to moderate pollution in the study area.