Pollution Characteristics and Risk Assessment of Heavy Metals in Sediment from Shenzhen-Zhongshan Channel

In order to study the pollution status of heavy metals in sediments of Shenzhen, the concentrations of heavy metals Cu, Pb, Zn, Cd, Cr, Hg and As in sediments were measured at 15 locations in the western man-made island. The results shows that, on average, Zn was the highest, 108.61mg.kg−1, followed by Cr, the smallest average of Cd was only 0.22mg.kg−1. Except Cd, the coefficient of variation of the remaining 6 heavy metals is relatively small. The coefficient of variation between is 12% to 36%, which is moderately mutated. The coefficient of variation of Cd is 55.73%. In the investigated surface sediments, the levels of 7 heavy metals were low. According to the potential ecological risk assessment, the ecological environment of the sediments in the study area is excellent, and the potential ecological hazard of each heavy metal is low.