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Updated: Jan 26, 2026

Clean Sampling and Analysis of River and Estuarine Waters for Trace Metal Studies
Published on: July 1, 2016
Heavy metals inter-annual variability and distribution in the Yangtze River estuary sediment, China
Lei Li1, Mei Jiang1, Yong Liu2
1East China Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Shanghai, China.
Abstract:
A better understanding of the relationships between heavy metal pollution and sediment sources in different aquatic environments of estuary is needed. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the levels and spatial distribution of heavy metals (Cu, Zn, Pb, Cd, Hg, and As) of surface sediments collected from 20 stations in the Yangtze River estuary from 2012 to 2016. The results showed that an overall decreasing trend in the concentration of these six types of heavy metals with distance from the shoreline. Typically, there was also a high concentration of heavy metals in muddy areas. Principle component analysis (PCA) and Factor analysis (FA) detected major groups of elements in which three distinct clusters of pollutants and recognized the sources of metals and validate the temporal and spatial variations that are affected by natural and anthropogenic sources linked to their seasonality.
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