Heavy metal pollution in the nearshore surface sediments north of the Shandong Peninsula and the Western Miao Islands, China

Surface sediment samples (N = 94) were obtained from the west Miao Islands, northern Shandong Peninsula, China, and analyzed for grain size and elements. Based on the classification by Folk and Ward, surface sediments were dominated by silt-sized components, sandy silt, and silt. The mean abundance of heavy metals could be ordered according to Cr > Zn > Ni > Cu> Pb > As> Cd > Hg. According to sediment quality guidelines, surface sediments have a 21 % probability of being toxic. The potential ecological risk index indicates low potential ecological risk, while the enrichment factor and geo-accumulation indices indicate slight to moderate pollution across most of the study area. Pollution load indexes indicate that 38 % of sites are moderately metal contaminated and 62 % of sites are not polluted. The study area was classified according to the level of heavy metal contamination and its sources.