Heavy Metal Contamination in the Water-Level Fluctuating Zone of the Yangtze River within Wanzhou Section, China

The distribution, potential ecological hazards, and homologous relativity of heavy metals in the water-level fluctuating zone (WLFZ) of the Yangtze River within the Wanzhou Section (YRWS) were investigated. The heavy metal content (Cd, Cu, Cr, and Ni) of the surface soil was analysed via atomic absorption spectroscopy. The potential ecological hazards of the heavy metals in the WLFZ soil of YRWS were also evaluated using the classical Lars Hakanson potential ecological risk index method, and the relevance of the heavy metals in the soil was investigated. The average Cd, Cr, Cu, and Ni concentrations were 2.14, 35.43, 18.47, and 34.52 mg/kg, respectively. The Cd and Ni contents in the soil exceeded the reference values in China by about 28.6- and 1.1-fold, respectively. Correlation analysis shows a highly significant correlation between Cd and Cr, indicating that their sources were the same. The major pollutant was Cd, which reached a very strong ecological hazard level. The potential ecological risk individual coefficients of the four heavy metals were ranked as follows: Cd (802.61) > Cu (4.43) > Ni (4.15) > Cr (1.23). The risk levels in the different regions were ranked as follows: Zhuxi River > mainstream > Mixi valley. The potential ecological risk in the WLFZ within the Zhuxi River was the highest among the regions and poses a certain health risk.