Environmental and ecological risk assessment of heavy metals in sediments of Nador lagoon, Morocco

The results show that heavy metals occur in lagoon sediments largely due to the anthropogenic activities in the area (urban effluents). The concentrations of heavy metals found in surface sediments are significantly higher than those from the local background. The potential ecological risk index and other environmental indices produced similar values for the levels of heavy metal pollution in Nador lagoon sediment, thereby confirming each other's results. Pollution indices and statistical analysis show that the heavy metals pose an ecological risk and indicate that Nador lagoon is moderately to considerably pollute.