Evaluation of the Pollution Status of Lagos Coastal Waters and Sediments, using Physicochemical Characteristics, Contamination Factor, Nemerow Pollution Index, Ecological Risk and Potential Ecological Risk Index

The heavy metals and physicochemical properties of Lagos coastal waters and sediments, Southwestern Nigeria were investigated in 5 stations (station 1-5), to determine their levels, distributions and pollution index. The observed ranges of physicochemical characteristics from the study area are: dissolved oxygen (DO): 2.15-11.3 mg/L; pH: 6-7.7; temperature (Temp): 28.05-29.25°C; biochemical oxygen demand (BOD): 1.6-110.1 mg/L; electrical conductivity (EC): 1.8-29.8 mS/cm; salinity (SAL): 0.02-2.05ppt; total dissolved solids (TDS): 211.8-1210.2 mg/L and total suspended solids (TSS): 12.13-117.95 mg/L. The analyzed physicochemical properties from all the stations are within the desired values for healthy marine ecosystems when compared with Federal ministry of environment (FMENV) Nigeria and World Health organization permissible limits (DO:>5 mg/L; pH:6.5-9; TEMP:<40°C; BOD: 50 mg/L; EC:900 mS/cm; TDS:1000mg/L and TSS:600 mg/L), with the exception of low DO at station 1 and station 5; and high BOD at; station 2 and station 3 respectively. The concentrations of heavy metals present in the water samples followed the sequence: Fe > Pb > Cu > Cr > Zn > Cd, and showed high values for Pb, Cd and Cr, relative to the standard permissible limits according to FMENV (Pb 0.001; Zn 50 mg/L; Cd < 0.0018; Cu 2-4 mg/L and Cr 0.02-2.0 mg/L). The calculated contamination factor (CF) in the sediment samples showed low-moderate contamination for the analyzed heavy metals (Cr, Zn, Cu and Pb), except for cadmium (Cd) that showed extremely severe contamination (CF > 6) values across the sampling stations. The calculated Nemerow pollution index (NPI) and ecological risk index (RI) showed heavily polluted (NPI > 10) values and very high ecological risk (RI > 380) values at Apapa (location 1), Iddo (location 2) and Makoko (location 3). The potential ecological risk factor (Eir) confirmed Cd as the highest polluted heavy metals (Eir >320), with the greatest potential threat to the marine ecosystems in the Lagos coastal waters. The study highlights the impacts of anthropogenic pollutions on the coastal ecosystems and human health.