Oil spills typically occur in offshore oil exploration, transportation, storage, and marine accidents which seriously threaten the ecological environment and economy of local communities. 

Heavy metals that accumulate in marine sediments may harm human health and ecosystems. It has been reported that heavy metals associated with oil spills can cause some serious health problems. 

Accurate evaluation of the heavy metal contamination caused by oil spills is more urgent than that of organic pollution since heavy metals are toxic and persistent. 

Recently, scientists from Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources (NIEER) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences explored heavy metal contamination caused by oil spills in the Bohai Sea by using bulk geochemical parameters and hydrocarbon compositions. 

Scientists measured the contents of six heavy metals (Cu, Pb, Zn, Cr, Ni, and Co), total organic carbon, aliphatic hydrocarbons, and grain size in 50 subsurface sediment samples from an area affected by oil spills in the Bohai Sea. 

Scientists analyzed the grain size distributions, total organic carbon contents, elemental compositions, and lipid biomarkers to further understand the source and migration of heavy metals in areas affected by oil spills in the Bohai Sea. 

Besides, this study evaluated the enrichment in heavy metals and the composition of hydrocarbons in the subsurface sediments in an area affected by oil spills in the Bohai Sea. 

This study also assessed the ecological risks posed by metals in the areas affected by oil spills, especially the heavy metal contamination contributed by oil spills. 

This research has been published on the Environmental Science and pollution Research in an article entitled “Are oil spills an important source of heavy metal contamination in the Bohai Sea, China?”. 

Contact: 

ZHANG Shengyin 

zhangseepage@126.com 

Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China.