10.57647/j.jap.2025.0901.10

Ecological Risk Assessment of Potentially Toxic Metals in Water and Sediments of Urban River Ecosystems (Case Study: Zarjub River and Gohar Rood in Rasht, Iran)

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  • Ali Maghsoudi Shaghaghi1,
  • Mohammad Dehdar Dargahi*2,
  • Mohammadreza Rahimibashar3,
  • Mahsa Hakimi Abed1,
  • Bahram Ahmadi4,
  1. Department of Environment, Lahijan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Lahijan, Iran
  2. Department of Environment, La.C., Islamic Azad University, Lahijan, Iran.
  3. Department of Marine Biology, Lahijan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Lahijan, Iran
  4. Department of Mathematics, Lahijan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Lahijan, Iran

Received: 2025-02-14

Revised: 2025-03-09

Accepted: 2025-06-28

Published in Issue 2025-07-01

Copyright (c) 2025 Ali Maghsoudi Shaghaghi, Mohammad Dehdar Dargahi, Mohammadreza Rahimibashar, Mahsa Hakimi Abed, Bahram Ahmadi (Author)

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

How to Cite

Maghsoudi Shaghaghi, A., Dehdar Dargahi, M., Rahimibashar, M., Hakimi Abed, M., & Ahmadi, B. (2025). Ecological Risk Assessment of Potentially Toxic Metals in Water and Sediments of Urban River Ecosystems (Case Study: Zarjub River and Gohar Rood in Rasht, Iran). Anthropogenic Pollution, 9(1). https://doi.org/10.57647/j.jap.2025.0901.10
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Abstract

The Zarjub River and Gohar Rood represent serious pollution concerns among urban rivers in northern Iran, as they discharge into the international Anzali Lagoon. This study aimed to evaluate the concentration of potentially heavy metals (PTMs) in the water and sediments of these two rivers. To this end, water and sediment samples were taken from 10 sampling stations along the two rivers, and then physicochemical factors and concentration of PTMs were measured; moreover, environmental indices were calculated. Results showed that the water pH, DO, and TDS were 6.7, 4.9, and 316.5, respectively. In addition, the concentration of Fe, Pb, Al, Hg, and Cd in water samples were 0.166, 0.1, 0.1, 1, and 0, and their concentration in sediment samples was equal to 41686.1, 70.031, 12721.9, 0.1, and 0.1, respectively. The geo-accumulation index (Igeo), enrichment factor (EF), contamination factor (CF), ecological risk index (ERI), and potential ecological risk (PER) were also calculated for the water and sediment samples. The measurement of PTMs and the above-mentioned indices demonstrated that the water of the studied rivers does not contain high levels of heavy metals, whereas their sediments contain high levels of PTMs. The study findings suggested that these two urban rivers are not in a hazardous state in terms of PTMs; however, it is necessary to further manage and control the entry of urban wastewater into these two rivers.

Keywords

  • Heavy metals,
  • Running waters,
  • Sediments,
  • Ecological indicators,
  • Southern Caspian Sea
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