서해중부 연안 조간대 퇴적물 내 중금속분포 및 특성

Heavy Metals in the Tidal Sediments Occurring along the Western Coast of Korea

Heavy metal contents and distributional characteristics in sediments from the tidal flats along the middle west coast of Korea were investigated. The averages of heavy metal contents in sediments from 12 sampling sites range from 10.54 to 47.41 mg/kg for Zn, from 6.17 to 19.14 mg/kg for Cr, from 3.53 to 12.03 mg/kg for Ni, from 1.80 to 7.79 mg/kg for Cu, from 0.004 to 0.040 mg/kg for Cd, and from 5.46 to 13.19 mg/kg for Pb(on dry weight basis). The literatural comparative study showed that the study area has been little affected by heavy metal contamination. On the whole, heavy metal content, ignition loss rate(%) and clay+silt content(%) in sediments were higher in the southern part area than in the northern part area, regionally divided by S6 and S7 sites(Osikdo). In the present study, it is suggested that methodological selection of acid digestion, particle size fraction for analysis and normalization should be carefully deliberated to make the comparative study of heavy metal contamination more objective.