Ecological risk assessment of trace elements accumulated in stormwater ponds within industrial areas

Abstract

Stormwater ponds can provide flood protection and efficiently treat stormwater using sedimentation. As the ponds also host aquatic biota and attract wildlife, there is a growing concern that the sediment bound pollutants negatively affect aquatic organisms and the surrounding ecosystem. In this study, we used three methods to assess the accumulation and the potential ecological risk of 13 different heavy metals and metalloids (e.g. trace elements) including both elements that are frequently monitored and some which are rarely monitored in sediment from 5 stormwater ponds located within catchments with predominately industrial activities. Ecological risk for organisms in the older ponds was observed for both commonly (e.g. Cd, Cu, Zn) and seldom (e.g. Ag, Sb) monitored trace elements. The 3 methods ranked the degree of contamination similarly. We show that methods usually used for sediment quality assessment in aquatic ecosystems can also be used for screening the potential risk of other trace elements in stormwater ponds and may consequently be useful in stormwater monitoring and management. Our study also highlights the importance of establishing background conditions when conducting ecological risk assessment of sediment in stormwater ponds.

Distribution Characteristics and Ecological Risk Assessment of Heavy Metals in Typical Farmland Soils from Baijiazui Village of Ningyuanbu Town, China

“…At present, there are many methods to evaluate soil heavy metal pollution, among which the index method is the most common, such as nemero comprehensive pollution index [19], enrichment factor [20], meta-analysis [21], geoaccumulation index [22][23][24] and potential ecological hazard index [25][26][27]. Thus, a comprehensive evaluation method is urgently needed.…”

Temporal variation and risk assessment of heavy metals and nutrients from water and sediment in a stormwater pond, Brazil

“…Some studies analyzed the quality of sediment by geochemistry index in rivers, lakes, and stormwater ponds (Patel et al 2018;Liu et al 2022;Waara & Johansson 2022). Geochemical information on sediment is essential to evaluate environmental pollution and different pollutant sources in natural (weathering processes of rocks) or anthropogenic sources (Yap & Pang 2011;Kayembe et al 2018).…”