Study on bioavailability of heavy metals in sediments of coastal waters in Zhoushan

The distributions of acid volatile sulfide (AVS), simultaneously extracted metals (SEM) and five heavy metals of surface sediments in coastal waters of Zhoushan were surveyed, and the bioavailability of aforementioned heavy metals were investigated based on the SEM minus AVS (SMV) method.Results indicated that both AVS and SEM presented lower concentration.The concentration of AVS ranged from 0.005 μmol/g to 4.21 μmol/g, and the average value was 0.5456 μmol/g.The concentration of SEM ranged from 0.3356 μmol/g to 1.614 μmol/g, and the average value was 0.7998 μmol/g.The average concentration of Cu, Pb, Zn, Cr and Cd were 24.65×10^-6, 27.21×10^-6, 114.5×10^-6, 58.26×10^-6g, and 0.142×10^-6, respectively.The result of SMV method showed that heavy metals in sediments might have moderate toxicity to aquatic life except for 5 stations.