Article
Build-up of toxic metals on the impervious surfaces of a commercial seaport
In thecontextofincreasingthreatstothesensitivemarineecosystembytoxicmetals,thisstudyin- vestigatedthemetalbuild-uponimpervioussurfacesspecific tocommercialseaports.Theknowledge
generatedfromthisstudywillcontributetomanagingtoxicmetalpollutionofthemarineecosystem. The studyfoundthatinter-modaloperationsandmainaccessroadwayhadthehighestloadsfollowedby
container storageandvehiclemarshallingsites,whilethequaylineandshorttermstorageareashadthe lowest.Additionally,itwasfoundthatCr,Al,Pb,CuandZnwerepredominantlyattachedtosolids,while significant amountofCu,PbandZnwerefoundasnutrientcomplexes.Assuch,treatmentoptionsbased on solidsretentioncanbeeffectiveforsomemetalspecies,whileineffectiveforotherspecies.Fur- thermore, CuandZnaremorelikelytobecomebioavailableinseawaterduetotheirstrongassociation with nutrients.Mathematicalmodelstoreplicatethemetalbuild-upprocesswerealsodevelopedusing experimentaldesignapproachandpartialleastsquaresregression.ThemodelsforCrandPbwerefound to bereliable,whilethoseforAl,ZnandCuwererelativelylessreliable,butcouldbeemployedfor preliminary investigations.