Distribution of heavy metals in marine sediments at the ocean waste disposal site in the Yellow Sea, South Korea

Abstract

We attempted to evaluate variations in the properties of sediments at a waste disposal site in the Yellow Sea resulting from the last 17 years of ocean dumping. The comparison between the affected surface sediment by ocean dumping and unaffected bottom sediment properties revealed that the mean grain size, Loss on ignition (LOI), and mineralogy were only slightly influenced by the ocean dumping, while some stations in the study area exhibited a heavy metal anomaly. Enrichment of heavy metals also has influenced inflow of waste since 1994 and rapidly increased after 1999, and the heavy metals in the surface sediment were controlled by anthropogenic sources such as ocean dumping, while the heavy metals in the bottom sediment were controlled by the weathering process. Also, Metal enrichment in the study area may have been caused by ocean dumping, because the time of heavy metal enrichment corresponds to the increasing time of ocean dumping. Furthermore, enrichment factor and geoaccumulation index suggested that the concentrations of heavy metals besides Cd and Pb were not significant, but the sediment accumulated after 1994 at some sites exhibited Pb and Cd anomalies.

Overview of the Policies for Phasing Out Ocean Dumping of Sewage Sludge in the Republic of Korea

“…As a consequence of this increased influx of MSS, substantial enrichments were observed for trace metals including Cr, Cd, and Pb in the surficial dump site sediments, and this has affected the distributional patterns of benthic species in dump sites [13][14][15][16][17]. The habitats at these dump sites have been negatively impacted by anthropogenic activities, resulting in considerable changes to the structure of these ecosystems.…”

Concentration of metallic elements in surface sediments at a waste disposal site in the Yellow Sea

“…황해 투기해역에 표층 퇴적물의 중금속 분포 및 특 징에 관한 연구는 2006년 이전에 조사되어 대부분 오 염도의 증가를 제시하였으나 (kim 등, 2009a, 2009bMMAF, 2004MMAF, , 2005aShin, 2008) (Kim 등, 2001(Kim 등, , 2009a (Cho, 1994). 배경 농도는 Taylor and McLennan (1995)…”