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Article

Contamination, Ecological Risk and Source Apportionment of Heavy Metals in the Surface Sediments in the Hailar River, the Upper Source of the Erguna River between China and Russia

by
Yufeng Xie
1,*,
Xiaodong Huo
1,2,
Chuanhai Hu
1,2 and
Yuqiang Tao
2
1
Nanjing Institute of Environmental Science, Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Nanjing 210042, China
2
College of Oceanography, Hohai University, Nanjing 210024, China
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Sustainability 2023, 15(4), 3655; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15043655
Submission received: 8 December 2022 / Revised: 2 February 2023 / Accepted: 6 February 2023 / Published: 16 February 2023
(This article belongs to the Section Environmental Sustainability and Applications)
Browse Figures
Review Reports Versions Notes

Abstract

:
The concentrations of heavy metals (As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb and Zn) in 17 surface sediment samples from the Hailar River, the upper source of the Ergun River, which is the boundary river between China and Russia, were analyzed. Traceability and cause analysis of heavy metals in sediment were carried out by correlation analysis and principal component analysis. The results showed that the concentrations of Hg and Cd in sediments exceeded the soil background values. Due to the high biological toxicity factor of Hg, Hg is the highest potential ecological risk factor in the Hailar River and its tributary the Yimin River. The sources of Hg and As were likely to come from human activities including mining, coal burning and animal husbandry; other HMs, especially Zn and Cr, mainly come from mining and natural factors. Due to the high level of urbanization and more agricultural activities, the pollution potential of Cd, Hg and Pb in the Yimin River and the lower reaches of the Hailar River was greater. The results of this study will help to understand the distribution and pollution of heavy metals in river sediments in the basin and provide management support for China’s local environmental management departments and relevant national departments of China.

1. Introduction

Heavy metal (HM) contamination in surficial sediment as a consequence of various anthropogenic activities has been a cause of serious concern in recent times. This is due to their toxicity, persistence and non-degradability, nonbiodegradable nature, bioaccumulation, vast sources and ecological risks [1,2,3,4,5]. HMs in industrial wastewater, domestic sewage and natural runoff go into water bodies through physical, chemical and biological processes and then accumulate into river sediments [6,7,8]. Heavy metals in sediments will be rereleased to the overlying water through desorption, redox, dissolution and other ways, resulting in secondary pollution of the water body [9,10]. River sediment is the main carrier of heavy metal pollution and an important source and sink of heavy metals [11,12]. Therefore, heavy metals in sediments contain a large amount of environmental information, which can be considered to be influential tracers for monitoring the effects of anthropogenic activities [13,14,15,16,17,18,19].
Transboundary rivers are rivers flowing through different countries or regions [20]. The characteristics of transboundary river pollution include a wide range, a large degree of harm and a special pollution area. It is easy to cause an abnormal cycle of the ecosystem, affecting the normal development of surrounding industries and agriculture and the stability of the relationship between the two countries [21,22]. The typical cases of transboundary river pollution include Rhine River water pollution [23] and Danube River pollution in Europe and transboundary water pollution of Tennessee River [24,25]. The Erguna River was located in the border between Inner Mongolia and Russia. It was a cross-border river. The Hailar River was its main upstream tributary. The Erguna River Basin was mainly dominated by animal husbandry and a concentrated area of ethnic minorities. Grassland and forest land are the main types in this area. Different from regions with a high urbanization level, the Erguna River Basin was less affected by human activities. The urbanization level was relatively low in the Erguna River Basin, which has unique natural regional characteristics [26,27]. At present, the water environment pollution in transboundary river basin is worthy of our attention, especially the study of heavy metal pollution in river sediments [28,29]. With the rapid development of industrialization, urbanization and agricultural production, the area of the Hailar River, the upper source of the Erguna River Basin, has been affected by heavy metal pollution in recent years. The status of heavy metals in sediment in the basin was worthy of further research and discussion and puts forward reasonable control strategies.
In view of the lack of relevant research on sediment pollution in the Hailar River, in this study, 17 sediment samples were collected from the primary river, the Hailar River, and the secondary river, the Yimin River, in the Erguna River Basin. The contents of eight heavy metals in the sediment and related physical and chemical properties of the sediment were determined, including pH, organic matter, total nitrogen and total phosphorus. The main purposes of this study are: (1) to study the concentration and spatial distribution characteristics of heavy metals in Hailar River, the upper source of Erguna River, which is the boundary river between China and Russia; (2) to evaluate the pollution of heavy metals using geoaccumulation methods, the pollution load index and the potential risk assessment method; (3) to determine the potential sources of heavy metals in the Hailar River and the main factors affecting the concentration of heavy metals in sediments; and (4) to provide supporting data for China’s local environmental management departments and the national departments of China concerned with international negotiation and decision making.

2. Materials and Methods

2.1. Study Area

The Erguna River Basin belongs to the continental monsoon climate in the middle temperate zone, with more rain and a mild temperature in summer and a low temperature in winter. The average wind speed in the basin decreases with the increase in latitude [30]. The watershed is a typical distribution area of grassland and forest. The Hailar River in Hulunbuir, Inner Mongolia, China, is a primary tributary of the main stream of the Erguna River (Figure 1). The Hailar River is known as the mother river of the Hulunbuir grassland. The interannual variation of precipitation in the Hailar River is large. The average precipitation is 287–337 mm. The average temperature is −1.3–2.6 °C [31]. In recent years, the Hailar River has been seriously damaged by the discharge of large amounts of untreated domestic sewage and industrial wastewater from towns such as Hailar District and Yakeshi City [32]. The Yimin River is the first level tributary of the Hailar River, and the coastal area is the bustling urban center of Hulunbuir City. Hailar District is a municipal area subordinate to Hulunbuir City in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of P.R. China. It is the political, economic and cultural center of Hulunbuir City. Human activities are stronger than those along the Hailar River [30]. Heavy metal pollution in the sediments of the Hailar River and its tributary the Yimin River can well reflect the water environment quality of the Erguna River basin, the border river between China and Russia [33].

2.2. Sample Collection and Analysis

The following factors were considered in the layout of sampling points: (1) The sampling points are arranged at the existing national and provincial control sections. The Chinese control section points include HLE-2, HLE-3, HLE-7, HLE-11, HLE-13 and the provincial control section point includes HLE-12. (2) On the Yimin River, which is rich in coal deposits and close to the built-up area, additional distribution points YMH-1–YMH-4 are added. (3) Additional distribution points shall be added in the sections with dense built-up areas and large coverage of pastures, including all the remaining points, HLE-1, HLE-4–HLE-6, HLE-8–HLE-10. A total of 17 sites were collected from in the Hailar River and the Yimin River in October 2021. The specific point information is shown in Table S1. The sampling site uses a grab-type mud sampler to collect the sediment at the center of the river. The longitude and latitude of each sampling point are recorded by GPS positioning. The samples are sealed with plastic sealing bags, and the location information is recorded by label paper. The collected sediment samples were stored in a brown bottle. The sediment was naturally dried and then ground through a 100-mesh sieve to remove impurities in the sediment, including plant residues and gravels. After grinding, it is stored in an ethylene bag for standby.
In this study, the basic physical and chemical indexes such as pH, total oxygen carbon (TOC), total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) in the sediment were determined; the specific methods and instruments are noted in Table S2. The pretreatment methods for the determination of eight heavy metals in sediment were treatment by the four-acid digestion method. The specific steps were as follows: 0.1 g sample was put into the PVC crucible and HCl, HNO3, HF and H2O2 were added in turn for digestion. After digestion, it was put into an electromagnetic heating pot for digestion and acid removal. It was diluted to 100 mL and put into a sample bottle. A total of eight kinds of heavy metals with risks to human health and the ecological environment were selected, including Pb, Cd, Cu, Ni, Zn, Cr, Hg and As. They are also the heavy metals associated with China’s soil environmental quality standards. The analysis of heavy metal elements including Pb, Cd, Cu, Ni, Zn and Cr is completed by using the AA-7000 atomic absorption spectrophotometer (model BJT-YQ-009) produced by Shimadzu Company. Hg and As levels were determined by using the AFS-8230 atomic fluorescence spectrophotometer (model BJT-YQ-093) produced by Shimadzu Company. The experiment was carried out according to the experimental operation steps. The standard curve was determined before the experiment to ensure the accuracy of the experiment. The parallel samples of the relevant samples were set, and the average value was taken to avoid mistakes in the experiment, resulting in large errors.

2.3. Contamination Factor and Pollution Load Index

The geoaccumulation index method (Igeo) [34] was first proposed by Müller of Heidelberg University in 1969. This evaluation method considers the background value of the soil environment and the influence of human factors. The calculation formula is:
Igeo = log2(Ci/(kBi)
where Ci and Bi are the measured value of heavy metals in sediments and the geochemical background value of heavy metals in the study area, respectively. The background concentrations of Pb, Cd, Cu, Cu, Ni, Zn, Cr, Hg and As in the Erguna river basin sediment are 26.5 mg/kg, 0.053 mg/kg, 14.1 mg/kg, 19.5 mg/kg, 59.1 mg/kg, 41.4 mg/kg, 0.04 mg/kg and 7.5 mg/kg, respectively. k = 1.5 (the coefficient selected by considering the rock differences in each region) [35]. The Igeo value is divided into seven grades as shown in Table S3.
The pollution load index method can intuitively reflect the contribution of various heavy metals to a certain point of pollution and the change trend of heavy metals in time and space [36]. The calculation methods are as follows:
C F i = C i / C o i
P L I = ( C F 1 × C F 2 × C F 3 ⋯ C F n n
where CFi is the highest pollution coefficient of a heavy metal; n is the number of evaluation elements; Ci is the measured content of element i; and Coi is the background value of element i. The soil background value of Inner Mongolia was selected in this study. The evaluation criteria were shown in Table S4.

2.4. Potential Ecological Risk Index

The potential ecological risk index method was first proposed by Swedish scholar Hakanson [37]. This method can well reflect the potential ecological risk of various heavy metal pollutants in water and sediment environment and can also comprehensively influence the accumulation of various heavy metals on the environment [38]. At present, this method is widely used in heavy metal pollution assessment. The specific calculation formula is as follows:
E r i = T r i × C i / C o i
RI = ∑ E r i = ∑ i n ( T r i × C F i )
where Ci is the actual measured values of heavy metals in water environment and sediment; Coi is the background value of soil environment of element i in Inner Mongolia; T r i is the coefficient of the biotoxicity response factor. The T r i for Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb, Zn, As, Hg and Cd were taken as 5, 2, 5, 1, 5, 1, 10, 40 and 30, respectively [39]; RI is the comprehensive ecological hazard index; and E r i represents the potential risk index of a single heavy metal. The evaluation criteria were shown in Table S5.

2.5. Multivariate and Geostatistical Analysis

SPSS 26.0 was used for statistical analysis. The correlation between HMs in the sediments was studied by Pearson’s correlation coefficient matrix. The significance level was set as p < 0.05 (double tail). The sources of HMs in the sediment samples were determined by cluster analysis, factor analysis of principal component analysis and the varimax rotation method. The kriging interpolation method in ArcGIS 10.7 was used to create spatial distribution maps of different heavy metal concentrations. The relevant charting was created using Origin 2018.

3. Results

3.1. Concentrations and Spatial Distributions of HMs in the Hailar River

The detection rate of eight heavy metals in sediments from the Hailar River was 100%. Table 1 displays the concentrations and background values of the eight heavy metals [40]. The content of heavy metals in all sediment samples does not exceed the Chinese soil environmental quality standard (agricultural land), which means that the pollution of heavy metals in the Hailar River is not serious. According to Figure 2 and Table S6, the mean concentrations of Pb (26.5 mg/kg ± 2.95 mg/kg), Cd (0.05 mg/kg ± 0.03 mg/kg), Cu (9.0 mg/kg ± 2.61 mg/kg), Ni (10 mg/kg ± 4.42 mg/kg), Zn (31 mg/kg ± 11.33 mg/kg), Cr (22 mg/kg ± 7.15 mg/kg) and As (4.79 mg/kg ± 2.05 mg/kg) were within their corresponding background values. The mean concentration of Hg (0.45 mg/kg ± 0.24 mg/kg) exceeded its corresponding background values. The mean concentrations of HMs were ranked as: Zn > Cr > Pb > Ni > Cu > As > Hg > Cd. The content of Cd exceeded the background value at HLE-1, HLE-3, HLE-5, HLE-6, HLE-10, HLE-12 and YM-2. The content of heavy metal Pb in HLE-1 and HLE-6 exceeded the background value. The contents of heavy metals Ni, Zn, Cr and As did not exceed the background values at all 17 sites. The content of heavy metal Hg exceeded the background value except for at HLE-9 and HLE-12.

3.2. Pollution Assessment of HMs in the Sediments of Hailar River and Yimin River

The calculated Igeo values for the eight HMs fluctuated widely between different sites (Figure 3). However, a slight variation was observed among the Igeo of the eight HMs in the sediments of the entire Hailar River and the mean value followed an order of Ni (−1.75) < Zn (−1.59) = Cr (−1.59) < Pb (−1.56) < As (−1.35) < Cu (−1.28) < Cd (−0.99) < Hg (2.68). The results showed that Hg was moderately to heavily contaminated. The other seven HM calculated values are negative, representing no pollution level. The pollution degree of Hg was the highest at YM-2 and the lowest at HLE-7. Cd was slightly polluted in HLE-1, HLE-6 and HLE-10. The PLI values of 17 points in the basin were between 0.36 and 1.27 (Figure 4). The PLI was the largest at point HLE-13 and the smallest at point HLE-3. There was moderate pollution of heavy metals in HLE-1, HLE-3, HLE-6, HLE-7 and HLE-10.

3.3. Ecological Risks of HMs in Hailar River

The contamination levels of HMs and the calculated ecological risk for the Hailar River are presented in Figure 5. The single potential risk pollution factors were Cd and Hg. There was Cd pollution in HLE-1, HLE-8 and HLE-13, which was judged as a moderate ecological hazard. The remaining points are slight ecological hazards. There were potential ecological risks for Hg at all 17 sites in the basin. Some sites have extremely strong ecological hazards. The potential ecological risk hazard at HLE-9 was at a strong level. The potential ecological risk at HLE-8, HLE-10, HLE-11 and HLE-12 reached a strong ecological hazard level (Figure 5).

4. Discussion

4.1. Spatial Distribution and Causes of Heavy Metals in Sediments of the Hailar River

The spatial distribution characteristics are used to determine the areas with high concentrations of heavy metals and identify possible sources [41,42]. The kriging interpolation method was used to prepare the figure shown in Figure 2. There are significant spatial differences between different regions and tributaries of the Hailar River. According to the spatial distribution of heavy metals obtained by the kriging interpolation method, the areas with high concentrations of Pb, Ni and Zn are mainly concentrated in the Hailar area and the lower reaches of the Hailar River. The results may be related to the geographical location [18]. The areas with high Cr concentration are mainly concentrated in the lower reaches of the Hailar River and the tributary of the Yimin River. The concentration of Cr in the Yimin River was larger than that of the main stream of the Hailar River. The possible reason was that the Yimin River was located in the urban area and has more industrial plants. The areas with high concentrations of Hg and As were mainly concentrated in the Yimin River. The areas with a high concentration of Hg also include HLE-8 and HLE-11, indicating that Hg pollution may be a factor of human influence [43]. Productions from agriculture and animal husbandry were the main source of As, and the use of pesticides and fertilizers aggravates the enrichment of As [44]. There may be large As pollution in the area with large grassland and cultivated land area in the basin [45].

4.2. Analysis on the Causes of High Ecological Risk at Some Sites

The ecological risk coefficient of Cd is large. The toxicity coefficient, Tr, is far greater than for other heavy metals in the basin [46]. Cd, as a transition metal, exists in the form of divalent cations in most sediment pH ranges, so clay and organic matter in the basin have a stronger adsorption effect on it [47].
The spatial distribution of Hg pollution was greatly affected by local human activities. The RI value of each point was above the high level due to the high potential ecological risk of Hg. The potential risk at HLE-8, HLE-11 and YM-2 was very high level. From the point of view of point distribution, the farther away from the points of HLE-1, HLE-2, HLE-3 and HLE-4 in the Hailar District of Hulunbuir City, the lower the potential risk level. The use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides and the discharge of aquaculture wastewater were the main causes of excessive Hg content. There were Hg-containing emissions in areas greatly affected by human activities [48].

4.3. Analysis on the source of Heavy Metals in the Sediment of Hailar River

Principal component analysis (PCA), Pearson correlation analysis and cluster analysis (CA) are widely preferred when determining sources of contamination in sediments because they are easy to perform and available in most statistical software packages [49,50]. The results showed that the content of heavy metals was strongly correlated with TOC and TN in sediments (Figure 6). The contents of Ni and Cr in sediments were strongly correlated with TOC (p < 0.05). The contents of Cu, Cr and Hg in sediments were correlated with TN (p < 0.05). Since nutrients such as TOC and TN have a certain adsorption effect on heavy metals in water, the occurrence of heavy metals in sediments will be affected [51,52]. There was a significant correlation between some heavy metals. Zn has a significant correlation with the other seven HMs (Figure 6). Pb was significantly correlated with Ni, Cr and Cd. The sources of many heavy metals in the sediments of the Hailar River were homologous.
The results of PCA to analyze the source of heavy metals are shown in Figure 7, Figure 8 and Table 2. The two principal components with eigenvalues greater than 1 accounted for 74.67% of the total variability. The first principal component (PC1) has relatively high positive charges (≥0.4) for Zn and Cr, accounting for 62.64% of the variance. The second principal component (PC2) has relatively high positive charges for Hg and As, accounting for 12.03% of the variance.
Studies have shown that areas with high As, Cd, Hg and Ni contents were mainly affected by the economic development of secondary and tertiary industries such as the geothermal, mining and transportation industries. Zn in river sediments mainly comes from rock weathering, mining and livestock wastewater discharge [52]. Incomplete combustion of automobile fuel is the main source of Pb. Pb is also related to air pollution caused by long-distance transmission [53]. The sampling points with serious pollution were located in the Hailar area and the Yimin River. Yimin opencast coal mine, one of the five largest opencast coal mines in China, is located in the Yimin River basin. Industrial processes such as coal mining and coal burning will produce a large number of heavy metal pollutants, including Hg, Cr, As, Cd and Pb, which will enter the surface water and be enriched in the sediment through atmospheric sedimentation and or rainfall leaching [54]. There are a large number of pastures and grasslands in the Hailar Basin, and there are also some copper and lead–zinc mines. These factors can easily lead to the accumulation of heavy metals in the sediment of the Hailar River. According to the comparison of heavy metal detection data and the background value in the sediment in Table 1, it can be concluded that Hg mainly comes from human activities. As mentioned earlier, production from agriculture and animal husbandry were the main source of As.
In summary, the sources of Hg and As were likely to come from human activities, including mining, coal burning and animal husbandry, and other HMs, especially Zn and Cr, mainly come from mining and natural factors.

5. Conclusions

For the first time, a detailed monitoring and assessment of sediment quality was presented for the Hailar River, the upper source of the Erguna River, which is the boundary river between China and Russia, in the present study. The major conclusions drawn from the study are as follows:
The detection rate of eight heavy metals in sediment is 100%, and the concentration level of HMs in sediment in the basin is: Zn > Cr > Pb > Ni > Cu > As > Hg > Cd. However, the content of HMs in all sediment samples does not exceed the Chinese soil environmental quality standard (agricultural land), which means that the pollution of heavy metals in Hailar River is not serious.
Among the eight HMs, the Igeo results show that only Hg is heavily polluted, and the other seven HMs are pollution free. The pollution load index results show that the index values of all 17 points in the basin are between 0.36 and 1.27, and some points reach the moderate pollution level. Single potential risk pollution factors include Cd and Hg, among which Hg pollution exists in sediment at all sites, whereas Cd pollution exists at HLE-1, HLE-8 and HLE-13. From the perspective of the comprehensive potential risk index, due to the high toxicity index of Hg, the degree of potential risk at each point is “strong”.
From the distribution point of view, the farther the sampling point is from the urban area (including HLE-1, HLE-2, HLE-3 and HLE-4, etc.), the lower the potential risk will be. The correlation analysis results showed that heavy metals had strong correlation with TOC and TP but had no correlation with TN content. Some heavy metals have extremely significant correlation. The heavy metals Zn, Cr, Ni and Pb is a large group with strong homology, whereas Cu, As, Cd and Hg is another large group with strong homology. The results of principal component analysis show that among the sources of heavy metals in the sediment of the studied reach, the contribution rate of natural factors is 62.6% and the main elements are Zn, Cr, Ni, Cd and Pb. The contribution rate of human factors is 12.0%, and the main elements are Cu, Hg and As. The results of this study provide support for the assessment of heavy metal pollution level of sediments in the upper reaches of the Erguna River in the Sino–Russian border river basin and related pollution prevention and control management.

Supplementary Materials

The following supporting information can be downloaded at: https://www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/su15043655/s1, Table S1: Sampling point information record; Table S2: Summary of detection items and methods; Table S3: Judgment standard of the geoaccumulation index evaluation Method; Table S4: Evaluation criteria of pollution load index; Table S5: Criteria of potential ecological risk index evaluation.

Author Contributions

Conceptualization, Y.X.; methodology, X.H. and Y.X.; software, X.H.; validation, X.H. and C.H.; formal analysis, Y.X. and Y.T.; investigation, Y.X., X.H. and C.H.; resources, Y.X.; data curation, X.H.; writing—original draft preparation, X.H.; writing—review and editing, Y.X.; visualization, X.H.; supervision, Y.T.; project administration, Y.X.; funding acquisition, Y.X. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Funding

This research was funded by the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (Grants No BK20181111).

Institutional Review Board Statement

Not applicable.

Informed Consent Statement

Not applicable.

Data Availability Statement

Supplementary data related to this article can be found.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Figure 1. Field sampling sites in the Hailar River of the Erguna River Basin in China.
Figure 1. Field sampling sites in the Hailar River of the Erguna River Basin in China.
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Figure 2. Spatial distributions of 8 HMs (Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn, As, Hg and Cd) in Hailar River.
Figure 2. Spatial distributions of 8 HMs (Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn, As, Hg and Cd) in Hailar River.
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Figure 3. Results of the geoaccumulation index in Hailar River and Yimin River.
Figure 3. Results of the geoaccumulation index in Hailar River and Yimin River.
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Figure 4. Results of pollution load index method in Hailar River and Yimin River.
Figure 4. Results of pollution load index method in Hailar River and Yimin River.
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Figure 5. Histogram of the potential ecological risk index (RI) for heavy metals in the sediments of the Hailar River.
Figure 5. Histogram of the potential ecological risk index (RI) for heavy metals in the sediments of the Hailar River.
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Figure 6. Pearson correlation coefficients of heavy metals and other environment factors in sediment from the Hailar River.
Figure 6. Pearson correlation coefficients of heavy metals and other environment factors in sediment from the Hailar River.
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Figure 7. Principal component analysis of heavy metals in the sediment of the Hailar River.
Figure 7. Principal component analysis of heavy metals in the sediment of the Hailar River.
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Figure 8. Principal component analysis scree plot of heavy metals in the sediment of the Hailar River.
Figure 8. Principal component analysis scree plot of heavy metals in the sediment of the Hailar River.
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Table
Table 1. Summary of heavy metal content and different standard values.
Table 1. Summary of heavy metal content and different standard values.
SitePbCdCuNiZnCrHgAspHTOCTNTP
(mg kg−1)-(%)(g kg−1)
HLE-111.80.12121335240.296.726.730.140.5222.32
HLE-212.10.027618130.254.607.070.060.2181.60
HLE-39.50.025313110.101.966.720.070.4031.96
HLE-412.90.058721150.203.317.200.070.2771.57
HLE-513.70.047520160.462.936.780.060.4232.4
HLE-613.50.028826170.523.717.180.070.3602.24
HLE-713.80.04111443290.445.866.830.100.2471.47
HLE-821.70.09111237220.629.366.480.110.2932.01
HLE-914.40.0571343290.345.756.560.070.3511.56
HLE-1013.90.039721170.472.806.510.070.4731.79
HLE-1115.90.0591544290.953.936.610.090.4401.86
HLE-1212.50.0361137250.373.206.671.760.4021.99
HLE-1319.60.08132049370.525.166.732.620.6672.33
YM-112.50.038826190.164.036.830.080.2381.56
YM-212.50.0515748300.988.957.090.160.6402.65
YM-312.00.039526180.494.287.370.110.5172.43
YM-411.90.0391028190.444.887.510.080.3502.11
Mean13.80.0591031220.454.796.730.140.5222.32
SD2.950.032.614.4211.337.150.242.052.950.032.614.42
Detection limit0.10.0113140.0020.01-0.060.0480.01
Background values26.50.0514.119.559.141.40.047.5----
China soil standard—Agricultural land700.350602001501.325----
Toxicity coefficient53052124010----
Table
Table 2. Principal component analysis for heavy metals.
Table 2. Principal component analysis for heavy metals.
Heavy MetalPC1PC2
Pb0.35−0.25
Cd0.32−0.17
Cu0.370.39
Ni0.36−0.54
Zn0.41−0.06
Cr0.40−0.19
Hg0.290.51
As0.340.40
Eigenvalue5.011.02
Contribution rate (%)62.6412.03
Accumulative contribution rate (%)62.6474.67
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Xie, Y.; Huo, X.; Hu, C.; Tao, Y. Contamination, Ecological Risk and Source Apportionment of Heavy Metals in the Surface Sediments in the Hailar River, the Upper Source of the Erguna River between China and Russia. Sustainability 2023, 15, 3655. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15043655

AMA Style

Xie Y, Huo X, Hu C, Tao Y. Contamination, Ecological Risk and Source Apportionment of Heavy Metals in the Surface Sediments in the Hailar River, the Upper Source of the Erguna River between China and Russia. Sustainability. 2023; 15(4):3655. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15043655

Chicago/Turabian Style

Xie, Yufeng, Xiaodong Huo, Chuanhai Hu, and Yuqiang Tao. 2023. "Contamination, Ecological Risk and Source Apportionment of Heavy Metals in the Surface Sediments in the Hailar River, the Upper Source of the Erguna River between China and Russia" Sustainability 15, no. 4: 3655. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15043655

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