ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Mar. Sci.
Sec. Marine Pollution
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmars.2025.1624141
This article is part of the Research TopicWater Resources Management and Pollution Control in Islands and Coastal AreasView all 11 articles
Interplay of natural and anthropogenic factors in source and distribution of heavy metals in Pingtan coastal area, Fujian Province
Provisionally accepted- 1Third Institute of Oceanology, Ministry of Natural Resources, Xiamen, China
- 2Qingdao Institute of Marine Geology (QIMG), Qingdao, China
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
The coastal area of Pingtan in Fujian Province holds strategic importance in the development of the Western Taiwan Strait Free Trade Zone, yet the issue of heavy metal pollution has come to the fore in recent years. This study focuses on the Pingtan coastal area of Fujian Province, China, employing field surveys, sample collection, and laboratory analyses integrated with multivariate statistical and spatial analysis techniques to investigate the interplay of natural and anthropogenic factors in the sources and distribution of heavy metals. The results indicate that the concentrations of Cu, Pb, Zn, Cr, Cd, As, and Hg in surface sediments all comply with the Class I standards of China's Marine Sediment Quality Criteria. Hg exhibits the highest coefficient of variation, reflecting significant spatial heterogeneity, while the remaining elements demonstrate moderate CVs and relatively uniform distributions. Compared with Xiamen, Meizhou, and Xinghua Bays, Pingtan shows lower mean concentrations for most heavy metals. Spatial distribution patterns reveal distinct regional heterogeneity in heavy metals, with the formation of high- and low-concentration zones influenced by both natural and anthropogenic factors. The geoaccumulation index indicates that Cd exhibits relatively higher pollution levels, with mild to moderate contamination in some areas, while As shows slight pollution in two stations. The pollution load index suggests that the study area remains uncontaminated overall. Ecological risk assessment demonstrates that, apart from Cd, all other heavy metals pose low ecological risks. Cd presents moderate to high ecological risk, serving as the primary contributor to overall risk, followed by Hg, resulting in a moderate comprehensive ecological risk level for the region. Pearson correlation analysis reveals significant correlations among certain heavy metals, indicating shared sources or similar migration and transformation patterns, while other elements exhibit weak or negative correlations, suggesting divergent origins or environmental behaviors. Principal component analysis extracts four principal components, representing natural sources, anthropogenic sources (primarily industrial emissions and traffic pollution), mixed sources, and agricultural/phosphorus fertilizer inputs, respectively. This highlights the complexity of heavy metal sources and the intricate interactions between natural and anthropogenic factors in governing their distribution and accumulation patterns.
Keywords: spatial distribution, Pollution assessment, SOURCE APPORTIONMENT, Ecological risk, Sediment quality Muller, G., 1979
Received: 07 May 2025; Accepted: 01 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Wu, Bao, Wang, Chen, Zheng and Lu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Zhao Wang, Qingdao Institute of Marine Geology (QIMG), Qingdao, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.