Investigation and assessment of environmental pollution in Gonghu Bay, Taihu Lake, China: A year-long study

Abstract

To understand environmental pollution and assess water quality in Gonghu Bay of Taihu Lake, the eutrophication status and microcystins (MCs) occurrence were monitored monthly from December 2015 to November 2016. Moreover, the pollution of metals and antibiotics was investigated and assessed. In May 2016, the comprehensive trophic level index (∑TLI) at most sampling sites in Gonghu Bay were hypereutrophic, demonstrating that the eutrophication status in Gonghu Bay is still quite intense. The persistent and ubiquitous occurrence of MCs was observed in the water of Gonghu Bay throughout the monitoring period. Moreover, various metal elements and antibiotic compounds were found in the surface water of Gonghu Bay, in which arsenic (As) and sulfamethoxazole (SMX) respectively showed high risks. Overall, the water quality of eastern Gonghu Bay is affected mainly by eutrophication, while the antibiotic pollution level is higher in the southern part of Gonghu Bay. Continuous and long-term monitoring efforts are required to document the tendency of water quality change in Gonghu Bay and other parts of Taihu Lake to improve environmental management works.

Keywords:

• Eutrophication and microcystins
• metals
• antibiotics
• environmental risks assessments
• Gonghu Bay

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51809118, No. 61773181), the National Key Research and Development Program of China (No. 2016YFE0123600), the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province, China (No. BK20170188), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No. JUSRP11714).