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Probabilistic ecological risk assessment of heavy metals using the sensitivity of resident organisms in four Korean rivers
- Source :
- Ecotoxicology and environmental safety. 183
- Publication Year :
- 2019
-
Abstract
- The environment has been continuously exposed to heavy metals by various routes, from both natural and artificial sources. In particular, heavy metals in water can affect aquatic organisms adversely, even at very low concentrations, and can lead to the disturbance of the ecosystem balance and biodiversity. Ecological risk assessments are conducted to protect the environment from such situations, primarily by deriving the predicted no-effect concentration (PNEC) from the species sensitivity distribution (SSD). This study developed the SSDs based on the species living in Korean freshwater for four heavy metals including cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu), lead (Pb), and zinc (Zn). The species compositions of the SSDs were examined, and three types of PNECs were derived by applying different assessment factors (AF). In addition, the occurrence and concentrations of heavy metals in Korean rivers were investigated, and the ecological risk assessment was carried out to compare the SSDs with the environmental concentrations. The SSDs were developed using a sufficient number of species, but the missing data of plants and insects provided an incomplete species composition. The results show that Cd and Pb in the environmental concentrations of rivers would not cause any risk to aquatic organisms from the derived PNEC. However, some organisms might be adversely affected by the concentrations of Zn, and a small amount of risk was expected under the conservative PNEC. The distribution of Cu in the rivers was not considered to be safe for aquatic organisms because the average environmental concentrations potentially affected the proportion of the SSD, and the environmental concentrations exceeded the PNECs. The concentrations of Cu and Zn in industrial waters indicated a considerable risk to aquatic organisms, and the probability of exceeding the PNECs appeared to be quite high. Therefore, this study indicates that additional actions and parallel field studies are required based on the risk posed to aquatic organisms by Cu and Zn in four Korean rivers.
- Subjects :
- Pollution
Aquatic Organisms
Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis
media_common.quotation_subject
0211 other engineering and technologies
Biodiversity
chemistry.chemical_element
Fresh Water
02 engineering and technology
010501 environmental sciences
01 natural sciences
Risk Assessment
Rivers
Metals, Heavy
Republic of Korea
Ecosystem
0105 earth and related environmental sciences
media_common
Probability
021110 strategic, defence & security studies
Cadmium
Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
Heavy metals
General Medicine
Zinc
chemistry
Disturbance (ecology)
Environmental chemistry
Environmental science
Risk assessment
Copper
Water Pollutants, Chemical
Global biodiversity
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 10902414
- Volume :
- 183
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Ecotoxicology and environmental safety
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....5306de11c17078d1dc214a44d02e7c92