Assessing spatial distribution, sources, and potential ecological risk of heavy metals in surface sediments of the Nansi Lake, Eastern China

The study is conducted to investigate the spatial distribution, sources and ecological risk of seven heavy metals in surface sediments of Nansi Lake, Eastern China. A total of 29 samples were collected in surface sediments of Nansi Lake, and were analyzed for three nutrients (TN, TOC and TP), two major metals (Al and Fe), as well as seven trace metals (As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Pb and Zn). The mean concentrations of As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Pb, Zn, Fe and Al were 14.41, 0.22, 71.10, 30.1, 0.048, 29.14, 90.2, 30,816 and 70,653 mg kg−1, respectively, and the mean contents of these metals were higher than the background values with the exception of Cu and Fe. The spatial distribution indicated that the contents of all seven heavy metals were characterized by relatively higher contents in the upper lake than the lower lake. The hotspots with high values of As, Cd and Hg were associated with the river mouths, and the hotspots of Pb were mainly located around the dam in the central part, while no significant associations were displayed between spatial distribution of Cr, Cu, Zn and the river mouths. The mean enrichment factor (EF) values of As, Cd, Hg and Pb were 2.03, 2.93, 3.21 and 2.18, respectively, showing their moderate enrichment, while Cr, Cu and Zn with mean EF values of 1.19, 0.89 and 1.01 were deficiency to minimal enrichment. Multivariate and geostatistical analyses suggested that PC1 controlled by Cr, Cu and Zn was a lithogenic component, and come from parent rocks leaching. PC2 including Cd and partially Hg represented the factor from industrial wastewater discharge. PC3 showed elevated loadings of As and partially Cd, and could be attributed to the agricultural practices. While PC4 including Pb and partially Hg, was dominated by coal combustion. The results of potential ecological risk suggested that sediment environment of Nansi Lake suffered from high ecological risk.