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Metal pollution assessment in surface sediments of Namak Lake, Iran

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Abstract

Desiccation of the Namak Lake (NL) can result in the release of fine-grained dust contaminated with heavy metals, while there is little information available on the propagation of metals in the bed sediments of this lake. In this study, contamination of metals in the surface sediments of the NL was analyzed and the pollution status of sediments was assessed using geo-accumulation index (Igeo), enrichment factor (EF), the consensus-based sediment quality guidelines (CBSQGs), and mean probable effect concentration quotient (mPECQ). Results indicated that metal concentrations at the southern part were higher than at the middle and northern parts of the lake. Possible reasons are (i) pollution loads mainly entered the lake through the rivers at the west and northwest, but accumulated at the southern parts, (ii) hard layer of salt covering the bottom of the NL at the northern part suppresses adsorption of metals to the sediment, and (iii) the muddy nature of sediments at the southern part makes it easier for metals to be absorbed. EF results showed that sediments at the southern part of the lake were moderately enriched with lead (Pb). The low Igeo values suggested no pollution with the metals, and CBSQG values showed that the sediments of the NL were not toxic, while the mPECQ index suggested a toxicity probability of less than 25%. Cluster analysis classified the metals into two clusters. In general, the results showed that metal pollution in the surface sediments of NL was generally low although the concentration of Pb at the southern part of the lake was worrisome.

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Funding

This research is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41790424), the Strategic Priority Research Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences (XDA20060402), and the International Partnership Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences (131A11KYSB20170113). R.N. is supported by the International Fellowship Initiative, IFI-IGSNRR. This research is also supported partially by the Water, Energy and Environmental Engineering Research Unit, University of Oulu, Finland.

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Correspondence to Roohollah Noori.

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Nodefarahani, M., Aradpour, S., Noori, R. et al. Metal pollution assessment in surface sediments of Namak Lake, Iran. Environ Sci Pollut Res 27, 45639–45649 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-10298-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-10298-x

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  1. Saber Aradpour