Environment Protection Engineering DISTRIBUTION CHARACTERISTICS AND ECOLOGICAL RISK OF HEAVY METALS IN SURFACE SEDIMENTS OF WEST PORT, MALAYSIA

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1 Envronment Protecton Engneerng Vol No. 4 DOI: /EPE SEYEDEH BELIN TAVAKOLY SANY*, AISHAH SALLEH*, ABDUL HALIM SULAIMAN*, A. SASEKUMAR*, GHAZALEHMONAZAMI TEHRANI *, MAJID REZAYI**, *** DISTRIBUTION CHARACTERISTICS AND ECOLOGICAL RISK OF HEAVY METALS IN SURFACE SEDIMENTS OF WEST PORT, MALAYSIA Surace sedments at West Port on the west coast o Pennsular Malaysa were montored to evaluate the spatal dstrbuton o heavy metals: As, Cu, Cd, Cr, Hg, Pb and Zn. Sedment samples were collected rom 10 statons, at three month ntervals rom November 2009 to October The degree o sedment contamnaton and ecologcal rsk actor were estmated to assess contamnaton status and adverse bologcal eects. The ecologcal rsk assessment ndcates that lvng organsms are at hgh rsk o Cd and Hg exposure and ths s consdered a crtcal envronmental ssue. Spatal dstrbuton maps o heavy metals would acltate dentcaton o polluton sources and vulnerable stes. 1. INTRODUCTION Unted States Envronmental Protecton Agency (USEPA) n 1998 dened ecologcal rsk assessment as a process that evaluates the lkelhood that adverse ecologcal eects may occur or are occurrng as a result o exposure to one or more stressors. Ecologcal rsk assessment s a process o evaluaton o the lkelhood o adverse eects on the marne bologcal communty [1]. The purpose o ecologcal rsk assessment s to assess ecologcal eects o human actvtes through scentcally credble evaluaton (chemcal assessment and ndvdual boassay) to protect and manage the envronment [2 4]. *Insttute o Bologcal Scences Unversty o Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysa; correspondng author S.B.T. Sany, e-mal: belntavakol332@gmal.com **School o Chemcal Scences and Food Technology, Faculty o Scence and Technology, Unverst Kebangsaan Malaysa, Bang, Selangor D.E., Malaysa. ***Food Scence and Technology Research Insttute, ACECR Mashhad Branch, Mashhad, Iran.

2 140 S.B. TAVAKOLY SANY et al. In recent decades, many researchers have ocused ther attenton on the potental threat o heavy metals n the envronment [5 9] because o ther toxcty and ablty to accumulate n the ood chan [10, 11]. Despte attempts to control anthropogenc sources, metal concentratons ncrease n the marne envronment and are a serous threat to lvng organsms and human health [5, 12, 13]. The majorty o trace elements orgnate rom gneous rock. These concentratons can be used as background concentratons or concentratons that are unaected by anthropogenc sources. Ths normaton can help to dscrmnate between the proporton o metals due to anthropogenc sources or natural sources n envronment. In the marne envronment, anthropogenc sources are nluenced rom several sources such as rver dscharge, deposton rom the atmosphere, ndustral waste nput and shppng actvtes [14, 15]. There have been many studes on the toxc eects o essental and non-essental (toxn) heavy metals. These studes show that the optmal concentraton o heavy metals n the envronment causes optmal uncton (reproducton and growth) o organsms and humans, and the varaton o optmal concentratons leads to a decrease n optmal unctonng and eventual death [16, 17]. At least twenty heavy metals have been dented as essental elements to the health o both humans and organsms at low quanttes but toxc at slghtly hgher quanttes. These nclude ron, chromum, nckel, manganese, copper and znc. Lead, cadmum, mercury and arsenc are known as toxc metals and are consdered the top twenty hazardous substances n the prorty lst prepared by US Envronmental Protecton Agency [18]. Ecologcal rsk assessment n costal water o the West Port s a dcult task because ths area s greatly nluenced by non-pont sources o polluton such as shppng actvtes, port development and land dscharge. Strong hydrodynamc turbulence due to the northeast monsoon s another nluental actor because t causes sgncant varaton n contamnaton, a temporal scale probably brought about by dsperson o sedments. To reduce the lmtatons eect, the statons were selected on three parallels transect (lnes) wth three dstances (100, 500, 1000 m, respectvely) rom the coastlne or berth lne (c. Fg. 1). Ths selecton led to better understandng o dstrbuton pattern o contamnants, and helped to select vulnerable staton. Moreover, the eld workng was done ourold durng one year (two tmes n northeast monsoon and two tmes n southwest monsoon). The objectves o the present study are the ollowng: () estmatng heavy metal concentratons (As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Pb, Zn) and to evaluate ther contamnaton level n surace sedments, () descrbng the dstrbuton pattern o heavy metals n surace sedments and dentyng vulnerable statons, and () evaluatng ecologcal rsk and assessng adverse bologcal eects on marne anmals. In vew o the mportance o West Port as an nternatonal shppng port and an ndustral centre located n a mangrove envronment, t s necessary to study sedment chemstry n order to evaluate envronmental qualty to control polluton and protect lvng resources.

3 Ecologcal rsk o heavy metals n surace sedments EXPERIMENTAL Area o study. West Port s one o the Malaysa s prncpal gateways and the busest port wth 22 berths. West Port has been developed along the Klang Strat and t s well sheltered by several mangrove slands and mudlats ormng a natural enclosure. The study area was restrcted to a narrow channel between Klang Island and Che Mat Zn Island on the west o the Indah sland, nne statons were selected rom three transects parallel to the coastlne at three derent dstances (Fg. 1 and Table 1) as well as one staton as control pont was selected 21 km away n a remote area rom the West Port. The study area les wthn the humd tropcs where the rany season prevals durng the northeast monsoon (November to March) and dry season durng the southwest monsoon (Aprl to October). Heavy ranall s normally experenced durng the early part o the monsoon whle dry spells occur durng the later part. At West Port, sea water had the ollowng characterstcs: the average salnty ± 1.36, average temperature ± 0.62 C, average surace dssolved oxygen (DO) 5.38 ± 0.17 mg/dm 3, and monthly average surace and bottom ph values are between 7.85 and 8.25 [19]. Fg. 1. Locaton o the samplng statons n West Port, Malaysa

4 142 S.B. TAVAKOLY SANY et al. Table 1 Physcal and chemcal descrpton o samplng statons Staton Code Descrpton Fne sedment Sand TOC Depth [%] [%] [%] [m] 100 m ater cement berth 1-WC100 coastlne m ater cement berth 2-WC500 remote area m ater cement berth 3-WC1000 mangrove m ater lqud berth 4-WL100 coastlne m ater lqud berth 5-WL500 remote area m ater lqud berth 6-WL1000 mangrove m ater contaner berth 7-WT100 coastlne m ater contaner berth 8-WT500 remote area m ater contaner berth 9-WT1000 mangrove km rom the Port 10-CP remote area Samplng and expermental methods. Sedment samples were dred at 105 C) n an oven, and passed through a 2 mm mesh seve to remove coarser partcles. A multwavelength partcle sze analyzer (Beckman Coulter Company, model LS ) was used to analyse the sedment granules. The percentages o the three ractons o gran szes were measured: Clay (<4 μm), slt (2 64 μm) and sand (>64 μm). A carbon analyzer (Horba Model 8210) was used to estmate the total organc carbon (TOC) and ther specc procedure was descrbed by Fang and Hong [20]. About 2 g o the sedment used or metal analyss was treated wth 2 cm 3 o 48% hydroluorc acd (HF) and 2 cm 3 o 65% ntrc acd (HNO 3 ), heated to dryness, and allowed to cool down. 0.5 g o 99.99% borc acd was added to the cooled soluton and the resultng suspensons was centruged. The decanted soluton rom the centrugal operaton was ltered usng Whatman No. 40 lter paper and the volume made up to 50 cm 3 wth demonzed water or measurement o total concentraton o heavy metals [21]. Plasma mass spectrometry (ICP/MS) was used to analyze the ollowng sute o metals: As, Cu, Cd, Cr, Hg, Pb and Zn. Stock reerence solutons o 1000 mg/dm 3 were dluted to prepare workng standards and the matrx matched wth smlar acdty, both mportant or varous concentraton ranges. The entre chemcal compound used had the hghest purty and Mllq and Ellx qualty water and soap were appled to wash and rnse the crystal materal and Telon bottles pror to analyss. Laboratory blanks, eld duplcates, and standard reerence materals (SRM) 2702 were appled to mprove qualty assurance durng laboratory analyses. SRM 2702 s a natural standard reerence o norganc materal collected rom marne sedment wth the lcensed concentraton. In ths study, the percentage o recovery vared between 91 and 104 The standard methods ndcated warnng lmts or matrx spke recoveres rom 87 to 113%; thus, the range o recovery was reasonable n ths study [22]. Potental contamnaton was detected by reagent blanks durng the analytcal and dgeston procedure. Statstcal

5 Ecologcal rsk o heavy metals n surace sedments 143 analyss o nonparametrc Kurskal Walls was appled to better understand metal varaton and sgncant derences between statons. Geo-statstcal analyss was done wth the Surer 8 sotware based on GPS values obtaned rom statons. Ths method s a practcal tool or better understandng contamnaton n each locaton because ths provdes a comprehensve dstrbuton pattern along a large area. Ecologcal rsk assessment. Hakanson developed a model to assess ecologcal rsk or toxc compounds n aquatc systems. The model s known as a practcal model to evaluate aquatc polluton. It may ntegrate mutual nteractons, toxcty sedmentaton character and senstvty o aquatc systems. The model was descrbed based on the degree o sedment contamnaton and potental ecologcal rsk ndex or the basn and gven substance [23 25]. The contamnaton degree s estmated to assess contamnaton level o contamnants n sedment by concentraton o substance and background value [26] C C n n n 0 1 d = C = = 1 j= 1 Cn (1) where: C d the contamnaton degree, C the contamnaton actor, C0 1 the average content o compound n queston () rom surace sedment (0 1 cm) at the accumulaton area, C n background value or the compound estmated rom Eq. (2) based on the data o prevous studes durng [23]: C = x+ s (2) n x where C n s the natural background value, x s s the mean o per-ndustral data or old prevous studes and s x s a standard dvson. Contamnaton actor was ranged as low ( C < 1), moderate (1 < 3), consderable (3 < 6), and very hgh ( C 6). The n C contamnaton degree (C d ) s estmated based on the sum o all contamnaton actors. The contamnaton degree o sedment may be classed as: low (C d < 8), moderate (8 C d < 16), consderable (16 C d < 32), and very hgh (C d 32). Potental ecologcal rsk ndex was dened or the basn and gven substance through the toxc response actor (Eq. (4)) [27, 28]. To evaluate the toxc response actor, sedment-logcal toxc actor (St value) and bo-producton (BPI) should be estmated. Hakanson proposed a new concept about the toxc actor based on the abundance prncple. He ndcated that the potental toxcologcal eect o an element s proportonal to the abundance o ths element n nature. Abundance numbers are estmated based on abundance o varous elements whch were provded at least n 4 derent types o bologcal and geologcal meda such as gneous rocks, sols, resh C

6 144 S.B. TAVAKOLY SANY et al. or marne water, land anmals and land plants [29]. The normaton provdes benecal revson o the results gven n ths background meda. The relatve abundance o varous elements s measured based on the equaton: element wth hgh mean concentraton Relatve abundance = mean concentraton o other elements (3) The abundance number have been obtaned, the largest value o relatve abundance should be omtted or every element n derent meda and the sum o these relatve numbers has been estmated and dvded nto the lowest mean value o relatve abundance. The abundance number s not equvalent to the St and snk-eect actor and problem o dmenson should be measured. The snk-eect actor means the varous elements make derent ngerprnts n sedment wth derent tendences to be deposted n the sedment. Snk actors have been obtaned by comparng the natural background values or water wth natural background values or sedments. St values are obtaned by multplyng the snk actors wth the abundance numbers. To reduce dmenson between and contamnaton actor s that, all corrected abundance should be dvded to the lowest corrected abundance or makng normaton between elements. Then to get relable dmensons, the square root s taken rom these gures and the values also rounded to emphasze the accuracy o the method. These values seem to be relable sedmentologcal toxc actors or all elements [3, 4]. Hakanson [23] descrbed a specc method to measure the BPI values or aquatc system. He determned the BPI by measurng the gnton loss (the IG value) and the ntrogen content (the N value) o sedment. The BPI value was then descrbed as the N content on the regresson lne or IG = 10%. The N content s gven n mg/g ds, the IG content n % ds. Thus, the toxc response actor (Tr ) was dened accordng to the sedment logcal toxc actor (St and the senstvty requrement (gven by the BPl). Tr was determned by multplyng the St wth BPl. Tr s an analogue to the contamnaton actor [29] n n = 1 = 1 (4) RI = Er = Tr C where: Er s the potental ecologcal rsk ndex or the gven substance, Tr s the toxc response actor or a gven compound and C s equal to the contamnaton actor, RI s the potental ecologcal rsk ndex or the aquatc area. The ollowng ranges o RI values have been accepted: low ecologcal rsk RI < 150, moderate ecologcal rsk 150 RI < 300, consderable ecologcal rsk 150 RI < 300 and very hgh ecologcal rsk RI > 600). Er value denes the level

7 Ecologcal rsk o heavy metals n surace sedments 145 o potental rsk or nvestgated toxc actor by the ollowng rank: Low potental ecologcal rsk Er < 150, moderate 40 Er < 80, consderable 80 Er < 160, hgh 160 Er < 320, and very hgh Er > 320 [3, 30, 31]. 3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 3.1. SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION The physcal and chemcal characterstcs o surace sedments o the West Port are summarzed n Table 1. Analyss o sedment gran sze ndcated that ne-graned sedment (<64 µm) predomnated n almost all statons except o statons WL500 and WC500. The maxmum values o ne ractons were estmated at statons close to the mangrove orest, whereas the hghest porton o the sand racton was at statons WC500 (54.03%) and WL500 (58.89%). The TOC content ranged between 7.74% and 15.49% and was synchronous wth ne gran sze sedment n most parts o the studed areas. Accordng to the Kruskal Walls test (α < 0.5), sgncant derences exsted between dstrbuton o ne graned sedment and TOC at derent statons. Several actors nluence the dstrbuton o ne graned sedment n the marne system such as sedment transportaton and sedmentary process [24, 32]. In ths study, areas wth hgh percentage o ne sedment were ound near the mangrove orest. Ths may be due to the land-based runo and sedmentary process o mangrove orests. Several studes have shown that mangrove orests can ncrease the suspended sold deposton by decreasng the water dynamc energy and provdng enough tme or ne gran sze to snk and depost [33 37]. The dstrbuton o TOC ollows the same pattern wth ne-graned sedment n most parts o the West Port and the correlaton analyss shows the hgh correlaton (r = 0.76) between the TOC and ne-graned sedment n ths area. The TOC concentraton ncreased when the mean gran sze decreased because the ne partcle sze, partcularly the clay collod, has a hgh tendency to adsorb TOC [37]. Table 2 shows mean and standard devaton (SD) o heavy metals at varous statons. A large value o standard devaton relected wde varaton n metal concentratons n spatal scales [38] whch was conrmed by a statstcal test. Ths test ndcated a sgncant derence n metal dstrbuton at all statons and the concentratons o all metals were sgncantly low at the control pont relatve to the other stes. Fgure 2 shows spatal dstrbuton o heavy metals n surace sedments at West Port. Heavy metal dstrbutons were generally homogenous or Zn, Cr, As, whle Pb and Cu showed a smlar pattern rom a low to a hgh rom north to south drecton. There was a hgher concentraton o Zn and Cr rom a south-easterly and east o strat (along the coastlne) but Cu and Pb showed a hgher concentraton n a south-western drecton. The lowest concentraton o metals (except Hg) was ound at staton WL500 and there

8 146 S.B. TAVAKOLY SANY et al. s sgncant derence (α < 0.05) between ths staton and others statons. The content o Cd and Hg decreased rom mangrove orest to coastlne and concentraton o Hg peaked at two statons WL1000 and WL500. Fg. 2. Spatal dstrbuton o heavy metals n surace sedments [μg g 1 ] Studes elsewhere ndcate that several actors such as eroson, sedmentaton, sedment type, water dynamcs, urbansaton, ndustralsaton, rver dscharge, and geochemcal reactons aect the dstrbuton and consttuton o heavy metals n coastal and estuarne waters [39 45]. In West Port, most o the metals (Zn, Cr, As, Pb, Cu) showed the same pattern o dstrbuton. Hgh concentratons o these heavy metals were ound n statons located n the south o strat (WT100 and WT1000). Ths result may be due to the large contaner termnal and the nlow o land runo n the south o West Port, whch may have caused an ncrease n metal concentraton. More-

9 Ecologcal rsk o heavy metals n surace sedments 147 over, ths dstrbuton pattern may be related to partcle sze o sedment because hgh percentage o ne partcles (slt and clay) was observed n the south o the strat. Table 2 Average and standard dvson (SD) o concentratons o heavy metals n surace sedment durng samplng perods [μg g 1 ] Staton As Cu Cr Cd Pb Hg Zn 1-WC100 mean S D WC500 mean SD WC1000 mean SD WL100 mean SD WL500 mean SD WL1000 mean SD WT100 mean SD WT500 mean SD WT1000 mean SD CP mean SD Several researchers reported that sedment partcle sze s a sgncant parameter whch s able to control heavy metal concentraton because ne partcles have hgh ablty to adsorb soluble heavy metals and depost them at the bottom sedment [41, 46, 47]. Spatal maps show that Zn and Cr dsplay hgh concentratons n statons located n the east sde o strat (along coastlne). These statons were probably aected by ndustral waste whch s loaded rom the ndustral outlets that were located along coastlne. The content o Cd and Hg decreased rom mangrove lne to a coastlne whch was related to the hgher concentraton o TOC and ne gran sze n mangrove sedment. Many studes show that mangrove sedments act as a trap or chemcal contamnants because such sedments contan hgh percentage o slt and clay that cause an ncrease n the metals adsorpton n these statons [42, 48 50]. Furthermore, the concentraton o Hg peaked at two statons WL1000 and WL500 because these statons were nluenced by ndustral waste lowng rom the land.

10 148 S.B. TAVAKOLY SANY et al DEGREE OF CONTAMINATION AND ADVERSE BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS Table 3 shows the concentratons o metals when compared wth sedment qualty gudelnes and background value to assess contamnaton degree and adverse bologcal eect. The New York Sedment Crtera and Provncal Sedment Qualty Gudelnes or metals are dvded nto low range eect (ISQG-Low) and hgh eect range (ISQG-Hgh). ISQG-L level ndcates the sedment contamnants do not have adverse eects on aquatc organsms n sedment. ISQG-H level ndcates that the sedment contamnant certanly have adverse eects on organsms that lve n the sedment. Also the level o sedment contamnaton that s between ISOG-L and ISQG-H shows that the contamnants probably have adverse eects [51]. Accordng to ths comparson, the level o Zn, Cu, N and Cr are below sedment background values and ISQG-L level (except or Cr) and concentraton o As, Cd, Hg and Pb exceeded ISQG-L levels and ther sedment background value. In the control staton, the concentratons o all metals were lower than the sedment background values and ISQG-L level except or As and Hg whch exceeded the background value. Ths mples that the occasonal toxc eects are expected or Hg, Pb and Cd and hgh adverse eect probably occur or As. Table 4 gves the better vew o the sedment stuaton at all statons, whch descrbe the rankng order based on the contamnaton actor and contamnaton degree. Average concentratons o heavy metals obtaned n ths study wth sedment qualty gudelnes and background value [μg g 1 ] Table 3 Subject Zn Pb Cu Cd N As Hg Cr Present study Background value n ths study New York sedment crtera [61] lowest eects range sever eects range Sedment qualty crtera [62, 63] lowest eects range (ISQG-low) hgh eects range (ISQG-hgh) The metal contamnaton actor (CF) was also appled to evaluate the anthropogenc contrbuton o heavy metals n surace sedments. The C values or Cu, Cr, and Zn were lower than 1 and were ound at an unpolluted level at all statons, suggestng these metals may have entrely orgnated rom natural processes or crustal materals. The contamnaton actor or Pb reached moderate value n all statons (except or Cd), ndcatng that the sedment at West Port had moderate anthropogenc nputs o these heavy metals. Contamnaton actor or Cd n all statons (except statons WL100,

11 Ecologcal rsk o heavy metals n surace sedments 149 WL500, CP) was ound between hgh and very hgh values, comng rom anthropogenc sources. Hg and As were between moderately polluted to hghly polluted and the sequence o C values or metals was Cd > As > Hg > Pb > Cr > Zn > Cu. Contamnaton degrees or statons WT100 and WT1000 were hgh, whereas they were moderate n other statons nsde the West Port and low at the control pont. The results o sedment qualty assessment are good evdence to conrm that the surace sedment o the West Port s hghly polluted by Cd, Hg and As and t s moderately contamnated wth Pb (Table 4); the concentratons o these metals are sgncantly hgher than ISQG-L and ther sedment background values. Contamnaton actor (C ) and contamnaton degree (C d ) at all statons Table 4 Cu, Cr Staton Pb As Cd Hg and Zn 1-WC100 3 C < 6 1 C < 3 2-WC500 3-WC C hgh moderate < 3 4-WL100 moderate 1 C < 3 5-WL500 moderate 6-WL C < 3 7-WT100 C < 1 moderate 3 C < 6 8-WT500 unpolluted 3 C < 6 hgh 3 C < 6 9-WT1000 hgh hgh Average value nsde West Port C < 1 1 C < 3 C < 1 1 C < 3 10-CP unpolluted moderate unpolluted moderate C d n = C = 1 8 C d < 16 moderate 16 C d < 32 hgh 8 C d < 16 moderate C d < 8 low The results obtaned n hs study ndcate that heavy metal contamnaton n sedments o West Port was attrbuted to both natural processes or logcal mneralogy, and human actvtes (anthropogenc). Furthermore, there was sgncant anthropogenc nput o Cd, Hg and As especally n statons close to berth lne (Table 4). Anthropogenc source o metals can be due to dsturbances, whch changed the assocated geochemcal concentraton ratos, and that the metal concentratons ncreased rom ther standard range. The relatve concentraton rato o metals exceeds standard varaton levels n the sedment when geochemcal metal concentratons experence dsturbances due to envronmental change [52, 53]. These dsturbances may be related to derental dervaton o these contamnatons rom lthogenc sources and multple anthropogenc sources. Several studes

12 150 S.B. TAVAKOLY SANY et al. descrbed Cd, Pb, Hg and As orgnate manly derved rom ndustral processes ncludng mnng, burnng o ossl uels, waste recyclng, cement manuacturng, as well as paper and glass producton [11, 54 59]. There are several ndustres n West Port nvolved n cement manuacturng, palm ol processng and ol/electrcal based power generaton. Other sources o these metals mght be due to atmospherc deposton, terrestral runos, whch are the man routes o metal release nto the marne envronments. In addton, As, Cd and Hg are wdely able to enrch sedment through recyclng by plants because these metals are easly absorbed by plants and enter the bologcal cycle [60]. Moreover, the hgh concentraton o Cd and As could have orgnated rom tsunam sedment deposton, shp waste, embarkaton actvtes and antcorrosve pants used on marne vessels [7]. The hghest contamnaton o all heavy metals around the termnal contaner (WL100 and WL1000) s consstent wth observatons that ths termnal s probably a man source o heavy metal release, especally or Cd and As because o hgh trac o shppng n ths area ECOLOGICAL RISK ASSESSMENT Sedment-logcal toxc actor (St ), potental ecologcal rsk actor (Er ) and ecologcal rsk ndex (RI) or varous heavy metals were estmated accordng to varous methodologes whch are summarzed n Tables 5 and 6. Metal Abundance number Determnaton o the snk-actor and sedment-logcal toxc actors Background marne water [mg/dm 3 ] Sedment background [mg/kg] Snk actor a Snk actor abundance number St West Port b St Hakanson 1980 [23] Table 5 Cd (5/BPI) Cr (5/BPI) 1/2 Cu (5/BPI) 1/2 Hg (5/BPI) 1/2 As (5/BPI) 1/2 Pb (5/BPI) 1/2 Zn (5/BPI) 1/2 a Snk actor was calculated by dvdng natural background value or marne water nto background value or marne sedment n ths study and multpled by b St value was calculated by dvdng the correct abundance number nto element wth low correct abundance (Zn = 0.07), takng the square root was and roundng the values. The amount o BPI measured based on the lnear regresson between gnton loss (the IG value) and the ntrogen content was equal to 3.8. The potental ecologcal rsk actors or all metals except Hg and Cd were estmated n the low potental rsk values Tr [23]

13 Ecologcal rsk o heavy metals n surace sedments 151 (Er < 40) or all statons (Table 6). Er value or Hg and Cd were sgncantly hgher than or other metals and ths vared between the moderate and hgh levels o potental ecologcal rsk n the West Port. In ths study, potental rsk value or all metals ranked n the ollowng sequence Cd > Hg >As > Cr, Pb > Cu > Zn. Moreover values o RI n Table 6 show that all statons are n moderate ecologcal rsk except staton WC1000, WT100 and WT1000 whch are n hgh ecologcal rsk. Potental ecologcal rsk (Er values) and rsk ndces (RI values) or heavy metals n the West Port (BPI = 3.8) Table 6 Staton As Cu Cr Cd Pb Hg Zn RI = Er RI value 1-WC moderate 2-WC moderate 3-WC hgh 4-WL moderate 5-WL moderate 6-WL moderate 7-WT hgh 8-WT moderate 9-WT hgh Average value nsde West Port moderate 10-CP low Regardng the Er value, the potental problem mght have been antcpated, rather wth Cd and Hg and there s no concern about other metals because the rest o the metals nvestgated gave only low potental rsk actors. It should be noted that Cd and Hg have rather a sedment logcal toxc actor, whch only ndcates that these two metals can gve strong ngerprnts n coastal sedments, wth a hgh potental rsk actor accordng to the hgh abundance prncple [29, 64]. Anyway, t does not ndcate that Cd and Hg n general terms are relatvely harmul envronment contamnants. The sequence o C d and Er values revealed some derences n the contamnaton proles o metals n West Port. The results o sedment contamnaton degree ndcated that surace sedment s hghly polluted wth As (3 C < 6) but ts rsk actor s 22.3, whch s a low potental rsk. The reason or ths change s related to the low sedment logcal toxc actor (St ) o As n comparson wth Cd and Hg. Hakanson [23] ndcated that the toxc actor gave complex normaton about the potental transport pathways o toxc metals to humans and to the aquatc ecologcal system. The man pathway n ths model goes rom contamnaton o water sedment bota sh man. The rsk actor gves a derent pcture o contamnaton n comparson wth the contamnaton actor because n the rsk model toxcty o ele-

14 152 S.B. TAVAKOLY SANY et al. ments, the snk eect and coastal water senstvty are consdered whle the contamnaton actor s estmated only based on the concentraton o elements [65]. The results o the present study mply large contamnaton actors or As, Cd, Hg and Pb whch ndcates the source o contamnates, but not necessarly the ecologcal sgncance o polluton. The potental rsk actor analyss has been appled to dstngush whch metals should be gven more attenton n West Port. Hg and Cd should be gven hgh prorty whle other metals low prorty. Rsk ndex (RI) analyss ranked statons based on the ecologcal rsk on bologcal communtes n West Port. Statons WL100 and WL1000 (close to contaner termnal) are n hgh ecologcal rsk and other statons n moderate ecologcal rsk and control staton aced rare adverse eect wth normal response. The results o rsk ndex were synchronous wth results o the degree o contamnaton. The ntal study o polluton on the west coastal waters o Pennsular Malaysa was carred out by several research organsatons n 1981, ncludng the ASEAN (Assocaton o Southeast Asan Natons), DOE Selangor (Department o Envronment), Law and Sngh [66] and Yasar et al. [67]. Ten specc pollutants (bactera, phenol, ol and grease contamnaton and Cd, Hg, As, Pb, Cu, Cr and nutrent concentratons) were studed to assess envronmental qualty. The hgh concentraton o chemcal polluton such as heavy metals n water, sedment and organsms n ths area, especally level o the ron and lead were hgher than the standard or coastal water as a consequence o the navgaton and transportaton, land-based pollutants and ndustral actvtes. However, these studes were not sucent to estmate the degree o contamnaton or toxcty levels n the sedment. There s no record on the dstrbuton o heavy metals n West Port, and thereore, ecologcal rsk assessment cannot be predcted. The results o ths study are n good agreement wth the dea that the sedment qualty o West Port n all statons recovered. Contamnaton levels o most metals (except Hg, As and Cd) rom unpolluted to slghtly polluted except or statons WL100 and WL1000 whch are close to contaner termnal n West Port. Ths result was most lkely due to wastewater management regulatons that were rated n 1990 and 1997 to control petrogenc and chemcal contamnants n coastal waters o Malaysa. These regulatons ocused on strateges that were based on nternatonal agreements to prevent and control polluton rom shps, platorm dranng and ndustral nputs (MARPOL 73/78 and OPRC 1990).To some extent these regulatons controlled contamnants but were not adequate to completely recover rom some toxc metals because contamnaton level o toxc elements such as Hg, As and Cd were categorzed rom moderately to hghly polluted n most sedment samples. Thus, sedments rom the most polluted statons are sgncant sources o toxc metals. These statons were nluenced by shppng actvtes n termnal contaners and ndustral outlets n the West Port whch may not be under protectve regulatons.

15 Ecologcal rsk o heavy metals n surace sedments 153 Ths research s an ntal step orward rom earler studes whch only consdered metal concentratons n sedments based on expermental analyss, scentc model and ndces. As a matter o act, contamnaton actor and degree o contamnaton means that a rst step towards a dagnostc tool to assess the level o anthropogenc sources, rsk actors and rsk ndces were used as a second step to establsh ecologcal adverse eects. Due to lack o consumpton rate and body level measurements or metals, human rsk assessment was not carred out n ths study. 4. CONCLUSION The derental dstrbuton pattern showed that multple sources contrbuted to ncrease the content o heavy metals n sedments along the West Port. These sources nclude a large scale nputs rom the ndustral centres such as palm ol, cement and ood manuacturers that are located n the vcnty o West Port, vessel-based dscharges, land runo, sedmentaton, and sltaton. Ths study also showed that ne gran szed sedments and TOC have synergc eect on the dstrbuton o heavy metals, especally Cd and Hg. In general terms, heavy metal polluton n West Port s moderate but large rsk ndces were estmated or Hg and Cd. Thus these metals need more attenton. Polluton rom As, Pb and Cr may be gven low prorty. Hgh level polluton o Hg and Cd s a serous threat n uture because o ther accumulaton and toxcty eects on marne organsms and the human populaton. Rsk model clared the vulnerable statons (WT100, WT1000 and WC100) havng data to manage and protect West Port coastal waters. Ths wll be o mmense value to the Department o Envronment o Malaysa n ts quest to take correctve measures. The present study emphaszes the mportance o proactve measures to manage and control polluton n the West Port coastal waters because there s no recent data on pollutants n ths area. Thus the results o ths study can be used as background data or uture studes. In addton, the results mply that urther management polces and mechansms are needed to ensure the mplementaton o regulatons. Mechansms may nclude permt programs, bad actor laws, zonng, enorceable general envronmental laws and prohbtons and water qualty standards. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The authors express ther grattude or support o Unversty Malaya Research Grunt (UMRG) wth project No. RG174-12SUS and Unversty Malaya Postgraduate Research Grant (PPP). REFERENCES [1] CHAPMAN P.M., Sc. Total. Envron., 2002, 288 (1-2), 131. [2] NENDZA M., Chemosphere, 2002, 48 (8), 865.

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