Temporal and spatial distribution of dissolved copper, lead, zinc and cadmium in the Changjiang Estuary and its adjacent waters

Heavy metal concentrations were measured in the Changjiang Estuary and its adjacent waters. Results from a systematic survey in April 2002 to March 2003 indicate that the ranges of the concentrations of dissolved copper, lead, zinc and cadmium in the study waters are 1.01~6.86, 0.10~0.39,3.17~9.12 and 0.011~0.049 μg/dm³, respectively. Similar to zinc, the behavior of dissolved copper was essentially conservative, but high scatter has been observed for high salinity samples, which can be attributed to the decomposition or mineralization of organic matter by bacteria. Dissolved lead may have active behavior with an addition at high salinity. Overall concentrations of dissolved cadmium increase with salinity. The mean values of these dissolved metals calculated for the surface waters were higher than those for the middle and bottom ones. External inputs of dissolved heavy metals to the surface waters were the likely explanation for these higher values. The maximum seasonal average values of dissolved copper and zinc were found in summer, reflecting higher amounts of riverine input in this season. In contrast, the maximum seasonal average values of dissolved lead and copper were found in winter and the lowest ones in summer, respectively, which might be associated with a combination of low concentration with heterogeneous scavenging. Concentrations of these dissolved metals found for the Changjiang Estuary fall in the range observed for the other estuaries but are noticeably higher than those from uncontaminated rivers, except for cadmium. Compared with observations for the Changjiang Estuary in the last two decades, it is clear that the Changjiang estuarine waters has been contaminated with copper, lead, zinc and cadmium during China's industrialization, but concentrations of them have decreased in the last few years.