Vertical profile, contamination assessment, and source apportionment of heavy metals in sediment cores of Kaohsiung Harbor, Taiwan

• The heavy metals pollution in core sediments from Kaohsiung Harbor was evaluated.
• The contributions of heavy metal contents from the four rivers were quantified.
• The effects of Canon and Love Rivers to water ecosystem in Kaohsiung Harbor was highest.

Six sediment cores collected at the Kaohsiung Harbor of Taiwan were analyzed to evaluate their vertical profiles, enrichments, accumulations, and source apportionments of heavy metals. This was performed to investigate any potential ecological risks posed by heavy metals. Results indicated that the mean heavy metal content (mg kg−1) in the six sediment cores was as follows: Hg (0.4–6.4), Cd (<0.05–2.4), Cr (18–820), Cu (16–760), Pb (31–140), and Zn (76–1900). The patterns of heavy metal content in the sediment cores differed substantially among the four river mouths. However, the vertical profiles of metals were relatively stable, indicating that wastewater has the constant characteristics and has been discharged into the rivers for a long period of time. Results of pollution assessment of enrichment factor, geo-accumulation index, and pollution load index revealed that river mouths experience severe enrichment, strong accumulation, and high contamination from the primary heavy metals. It was not consistent in the assessment results of mean effect range median quotient, potential ecological risk index, and total toxic unit method. Potential ecological risks caused by Hg in the sediments at Canon River and Love River mouths on aquatic organisms were extremely high. The estimates derived from the receptor modeling of multiple linear regression of the absolute principal component scores indicated that the contributions of the composite heavy metals derived from the Canon River and the Love River on the potential toxicity and risks to the water environment of Kaohsiung Harbor were highest, followed by those derived from Salt River and Jen-Gen River.

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