Study on the Pollution Characteristics of Heavy Metals in Seawater of Jinzhou Bay

The Jinzhou Bay is one of the bays polluted heavily by the heavy metals. Twenty surface seawater samples were collected to analyze the dissolved and particulate concentrations of Cu, Pb, Zn, Cd, Hg and As using the methods of Atomic Absorption and Atomic Fluorescence. The heavy metal distribution characteristics, influencing mechanism and the distribution ratio between particulate and dissolved state were analyzed. The results showed that the concentration of Cd in 25% stations was higher than the first standard value of sea water quality. The concentration of As was lower than the standard value in all stations. The concentration of dissolved heavy metal was highest in west closer to the land and Wuli River estuary, and decreased from west to east. There was lower value area of heavy metals like tongue caused by the tidal. The particulate Pb concentration accounted for 83.00% in total concentration, and the other heavy metals in particulate state were lower than that in the dissolved state. The pollution of the particulate heavy metals was becoming more and more serious from open sea to offshore marine areas. Therefore the heavy metals distribution in the Bay was affected not only by the coastal pollutants but also by the hydrodynamic factors. (C) 2011 Published by Elsevier B. V. Selection and/ or peer-review under responsibility of School of Environment, Beijing Normal University.