Affiliations 

  • 1 Department of Environmental and Conservation Sciences, University of Swat, Swat 19120, Pakistan
  • 2 Department of Environmental and Conservation Sciences, University of Swat, Swat 19120, Pakistan; State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China. Electronic address: drkhan@uswat.edu.pk
  • 3 Department of Environmental Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan
  • 4 China Institute of Geo-Environment Monitoring, Beijing, 100081, China
  • 5 Marine Chemistry Department, Faculty of Marine Sciences, King Abdulaziz University, P.O. Box 80207, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia; Renewable Environment Company for Environmental Consulting (REC), Jeddah, 21589, Saudi Arabia
  • 6 Department of Chemical and Waste Management, Environment Authority, P.O. Box 323, Muscat, P.C.:100, Sultanate of Oman
  • 7 Research Center for Advanced Materials Science (RCAMS), King Khalid University, Abha, 61413, Saudi Arabia; Department of Chemistry, College of Science, King Khalid University, Abha, 61413, Saudi Arabia
Mar Pollut Bull, 2024 Sep;206:116775.
PMID: 39121593 DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2024.116775

Abstract

Riverine sediments are important reservoirs of heavy metals, representing both historical and contemporary anthropogenic activity within the watershed. This review has been conducted to examine the distribution of heavy metals in the surface sediment of 52 riverine systems from various Asian and European countries, as well as to determine their sources and environmental risks. The results revealed significant variability in heavy metal contamination in the world's riverine systems, with certain hotspots exhibiting concentrations that exceeded the permissible limits set by environmental quality standards. Among the studied countries, India has the highest levels of chromium (Cr), cobalt (Co), manganese (Mn), nickel (Ni), zinc (Zn), cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu), and lead (Pb) contamination in its riverine systems, followed by Iran > Turkey > Spain > Vietnam > Pakistan > Malaysia > Taiwan > China > Nigeria > Bangladesh > Japan. Heavy metal pollution in the world's riverine systems was quantified using pollution evaluation indices. The Contamination Factor (CF) revealed moderate contamination (1 ≤ CF  Pakistan > Bangladesh > China > Taiwan > Japan and Iron, while the potential risks of ∑non-carcinogenic Pb, Cr, Ni, Cu, Cd, Co, Zn, and Mn for exposed human children and adults through ingestion and dermal contact were significantly influenced between acceptable to high risk, necessitating special attention from pollution control agencies.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.