Spatial distribution and potential ecological risk assessment of heavy metals in the sediments of fishing ports along the coasts of the Yellow Sea and Bohai Sea

More than 1,154 fishing ports are widely distributed in China's coastal areas. To date, however, few studies on the pollution and ecological risks of heavy metals in these fishing ports have been reported. In this study, the heavy metals of 148 sediment samples collected from 37 fishing ports along the coasts of the Yellow Sea and Bohai Sea were detected. The results showed that the average contents of Cu, Pb, Zn, and Cd were 53.58 & PLUSMN; 44.53, 27.90 & PLUSMN; 18.10, 143.52 & PLUSMN; 74.72 and 0.28 & PLUSMN; 0.15 mg/kg, respectively. Based on the geoaccumulation index (Igeo) and the potential ecological risk index (RI), we found that fishing ports were the most severely polluted by Cu, but Cd had the highest ecological risk, and most of fishing ports were in moderate potential ecological risk. The positive correlation between heavy metals and total organic carbon indicated that heavy metals in fishing ports were mainly affected by anthropogenic activities.