journal of environmental sciences 102 (2021) 316–325

Available online at www.sciencedirect.com

www.elsevier.com/locate/jes

Evaluating the biotoxicity of surface water in a

grassy lake in North China

Xin Meng 1,2, Wenqiang Zhang 1,2,∗, Baoqing Shan 1,2,∗

1 StateKey Laboratory of Environmental Aquatic Chemistry, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences,
Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China
2 University of the Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing 100049, China

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The biological toxicity of aquatic ecosystems should be considered when assessing the ef-
Received 8 July 2020 fects of toxicity on the water environment. The aim of this study was to identify the main
Revised 25 September 2020 pollutants in the Baiyangdian (BYD) and the factors that contribute to biological toxicity. We
Accepted 26 September 2020 determined various physical and chemical indicators in the surface water of the BYD, in-
cluding nutrients and heavy metals, and the biological toxicity. We also explored the sources
of the main pollutants and how the pollutants contributed to toxicity in the lake, using corre-
Keywords: lation analysis and an index of the biological toxicity. The results showed that total nitrogen
Baiyangdian (TN), ammoniacal nitrogen (NH4 + -N), chromium (Cr), and zinc (Zn) were the main pollutants
Typical pollutants in the BYD surface water. The average concentration of Cr was 2.3 times greater than the
Biotoxicity Class V threshold, and the concentrations at about 65% of the sampling points, mainly those
Risk assessment in the southern part of the BYD, exceeded the threshold standard. The average concentra-
tion of Zn was 1.25 times higher than the Class V threshold, with the concentrations of
about 35% of the samples greater than the threshold concentration. The integrated toxic-
ity of the surface water to luminescent bacteria ranged from 0.51% to 58%, and averaged
24.07%, which was within the range of moderate toxicity. The inhibition rates were high
near Diantou (59%) and Duan (51.6%). The pollutant levels in the BYD tend to be related to
the population density, with pollution mainly caused by sewage and domestic garbage, with
little influence from local industries. Cr and TN were strongly correlated, but the biological
toxicity was not correlated with any of the individual environmental indicators, which sug-
gests that the toxicity in the surface water of the BYD reflected the combined effects of the
environmental factors, rather than a single factor. The information from this study, about
the main pollutants and the relationships between the physical and chemical properties of
the surface water in the BYD, can be used to support plans for restoring the BYD.

© 2020 The Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of

Sciences. Published by Elsevier B.V.

societies (Constanza et al., 1997). As industry and agricul-

Introduction ture have developed rapidly, the pollution of lake ecosystems
by heavy metals, nitrogen, phosphorus, and other pollutants
The ecosystem services provided by lakes are extremely im-
contained in industrial and agricultural effluents is becom-
portant for the sustainable development of economies and
ing increasingly severe (Ali et al., 1999; Long et al., 1995; Bur-
ton, 2002). Once discharged to water bodies, these known and
∗
Corresponding authors.
E-mails: [email protected] (W. Zhang), [email protected] (B. Shan).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jes.2020.09.028
1001-0742/© 2020 The Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Published by Elsevier B.V.
 journal of environmental sciences 102 (2021) 316–325 317

unknown chemicals coexist and interact, sometimes to form BYD and also between the pollutants and the toxicity of sur-
new pollutants. Similarly, their toxic effects may accumulate, face water organisms.
be suppressed, or promoted (Brooks et al., 2003). As the range
of pollutants found in lake ecosystems continues to increase,
we need to have methods that facilitate accurate and rapid 1. Materials and methods
identification of the pollutants, so that targeted remediation
measures can be put in place. 1.1. Research area
When studying water pollution, we can use various tech-
nological approaches for detecting and measuring indicators The BYD, the largest freshwater shallow lake in the North
of biological toxicity. With these approaches, we can detect the China Plain (Zhu et al., 2019a), is 40 km east of Baoding,
toxic effects of unknown chemical substances in water bodies 38°43 –39°02 N, 115°38 –116°07 E (Zhu et al., 2019a) . It has
and the combined toxic effects of multiple toxic substances an average depth of about 2.5 m and a total area of about
on aquatic organisms (USEPA, 2004; Jo et al., 2008). Toxicity 366 km2 . The watershed of the BYD covers 31,000 km2 and
test methods for aquatic organisms are widely used for de- includes 143 districts and 39 villages in Dianne (Liu et al.,
tecting and evaluating the toxicity of surface water (Yi et al., 2012). The area is characterized by many smaller lakes, such as
2020). Traditional acute toxicity tests are generally used for Mapengdian, Shaochedian, and Zaozhadian (ZZD), connected
testing the toxicity of aquatic animals and plants, such as al- by hundreds of channels. In this study, we divided the BYD
gae, large fleas, and fish, and how toxicity affects the devel- District into seven areas by geographical location, namely
opment of fish embryos. For example, luminescent bacteria Shaochedian (SCD), Zaolinzhuang (ZLZ), Nanliuzhuang (NLZ),
can be used to assess acute biotoxicity in surface water. Fre- Diantouqu (DTQ), Quantouqu (QTQ), Duancunqu (DCQ), and
quently used chronic toxicity tests include the toxicity test Caiputai (CPT), with approximately five sampling points in
and the large flea reproduction toxicity test (Liu et al., 2020). each area, apart from ZZD, a swamp on the northwest side
Technology can also be used to detect the toxicity of aquatic of the BYD, which had none. The sampling area and the dis-
organisms at the molecular or cellular level (Ye et al., 2011; tribution of sampling points are shown in Fig. 1.
Schluter-Vorberg et al., 2017; Tisler and Zagorc-Koncan, 1999).
In the 1970s and early 1980s, scientists first realized that 1.2. Sample collection and analysis
certain luminescent bacteria found on the surfaces of marine
fish were sensitive to the environment and harmless to hu- Water samples (n = 35) were collected at 30 cm below the
mans, and that they could be used to detect the biological tox- surface using water samplers in September 2018. The sam-
icity of water bodies. The Microtox toxicity detection system ples were transferred into polyethylene bottles, stored at
was developed in the 1970s (Adams and Stauber, 2004) to pro- a low temperature, and transported back to the laboratory
vide a rapid method that uses luminescent bacteria to indicate (Zhu et al., 2018).The temperature (T), pH, dissolved oxygen
the biological toxicity of environmental samples. This method (DO), oxidation–reduction potential (ORP), and other physical
has been used frequently in China to evaluate the properties and chemical parameters of the BYD of the water samples
of water bodies. Ye et al. (2011) used Vibrio qinghaiensis and were measured in situ using a water quality analyzer.
Photobacterium brevis as test organisms when analyzing the The water samples were divided for the various analyses.
acute toxicity of explosive powder and found that they were Some of the sample was filtered through a 0.45 μm mem-
more sensitive to the acute toxicity of the explosive powder brane and then analyzed for the concentrations of NH4 + -N
than that of the wastewater containing explosives. and NO3 − -N. Another part was not filtered and was analyzed
Large amounts of municipal and industrial wastewater for the TN concentrations. We followed the national standard
from Baoding and nearby villages have been discharged into methods for monitoring and analyzing water and wastewater
the lake in recent years, such that the lake is now severely when determining the various forms of N (Editorial Board of
polluted and eutrophic (Wu et al., 2013; Ji et al., 2019). Nitro- water and wastewater monitoring, 2002).
gen, phosphorus, and heavy metals, present at high concen- The Fe concentrations of the samples were determined us-
trations throughout the BYD, are the main pollutants in the ing inductively coupled plasma emission spectrometry (ICP-
lake, with organic pollutants present at lower concentrations OES, OPTIMA 2000DV, Perkin Elmer, USA), and the concentra-
(Zhang et al., 2018; Gao and Jiao, 2018). To date, most of the re- tions of Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, Cd, and Pb were determined with induc-
searchers who have already studied the pollution in the BYD tively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICP-MS, 7500a, Agi-
have tended to focus on the sources, characteristics, and eco- lent Technologies, USA). We used a set of three blanks for each
logical risks of the individual pollutants present, and few have batch of samples to control the accuracy and precision of the
considered the relationships between the pollutants and bio- experiment. Each sample was measured three times in par-
logical toxicity (Zhu et al., 2018). The aim of this study there- allel, and the results were expressed as the average. We used
fore was to assess how luminescent bacteria were affected by high-grade reagents and ultra-pure water (Milli-Q Advantage
biological toxicity in surface water of the BYD. The objectives A10 Millipore, USA) in the measurement process.
were (1) to evaluate how luminescent bacteria were affected We used Viio qinghaiensis sp. Q67 to screen the acute water
by biological toxicity in surface water of the BYD; (2) to evalu- toxicity of surface water. The reagents used were Vibrio Qing-
ate a range of physical and chemical indicators, including the hai Q67 lyophilized powder, resuscitation diluent, and osmotic
concentrations of nutrients and heavy metals, and (3) to eval- pressure adjustment fluid, all provided by the Hamamatsu
uate the relationships between the pollutants detected in the Photonics Medical Technology Co. Ltd. (Langfang). We used a
318 journal of environmental sciences 102 (2021) 316–325

Fig. 1 – Maps showing (a) the location of the BYD and (b) the distribution of sampling points of BYD.

Table 1 – Risk levels of light suppression.

Number Inhibitory rate of light level of risk

1 0-10% Slight toxicity

2 10%-20% Low toxicity
3 20%-50% Medium toxicity
4 50%-90% Highly toxic
5 90% Extremely toxic

tube was shaken gently to mix thoroughly and then was left
to stand for 15 min before measuring the luminescence value.
We used ultra-pure water as the blank control group, and had
three sets of parallel samples for each test sample. The rela-
tive luminous intensity was used as the test result (Zhu et al.,
2017).
Fig. 2 – Distribution of the toxicity to luminous bacteria in
surface water of the BYD.
1.3. Assessment methods

A range of surface water properties were evaluated using the

portable water toxicity analyzer (EcloxTM Portable Water Tox- standard methods for evaluating the quality of surface water.
icity Analyzer, Hach Company, USA) for the test, and followed The luminescence data were used as an indicator of the de-
the instructions provided with the lyophilized powder of lu- gree of the toxicity. When toxic and harmful substances are
minescent bacteria, as follows. Some of the lyophilized bac- in contact with luminescent bacteria, the luminous intensity
teria powder was added to each batch of the experiment and changes, and so the luminous intensity is related to the con-
then left to sit at room temperature (about 20 °C) for 15 min. tent of various toxic substances. The toxicity risk levels are
The recovery diluent (0.5 mL) was then added to the bottle classified as shown in Table 1.
with the equilibrated Vibrio Qinghai Q67 lyophilized powder We analyzed the data using Pearson correlations, prin-
reagent, and the dissolved lyophilized powder solution was cipal component analysis, canonical correspondence analy-
placed at room temperature for 10 min before testing the sam- sis (CCA), and other multivariate statistical methods in Ex-
ple. This sample solution (2 mL) was added to each test tube, cel 2013, SPSS version 18.0, Origin 8.0, and CANOCO (Hu et al.,
along with 0.05 mL of the lyophilized powder solution. The 2018; Xia et al., 2018; Ganugapenta et al., 2018). We used CCA
 journal of environmental sciences 102 (2021) 316–325 319

Fig. 3 – Distribution of pollutants (COD, TN, NH3 , and TP) in surface water of the BYD.

to explore whether there was a relationship between the bio- network in this area is characterized by poor hydrodynamics
logical toxicity and other variables, for example, heavy metals. and few aquatic plants.
We produced a contour map to show the environmental con- The acute toxicity of the water in the BYD (0.51%–58%)
ditions in each area using the kriging interpolation method was relatively high compared with the levels in Luoma Lake,
(Kriging) in ArcGIS 10.1 software (Duodu et al., 2016). a drinking water source (−11.21%–10.80%), and the Huangpu
River (0–34.6%). These comparisons show that there were toxic
pollutants present in the BYD at relatively high concentrations
(Yi et al., 2020). The inhibition rates found in this study were
considerably lower than those from the Le An River in China
2. Results and discussion (6.39%–83.56%), which is severely polluted by heavy metals,
and the Zaohe River in Xi’an, China, which receives runoff
2.1. Biotoxicity analysis of luminescent bacteria from urban areas, treated domestic effluent, and untreated in-
dustrial wastewater. In addition, samples collected in indus-
The luminous intensity of the 35 samples of bacteria in the trial area, urban sampling sites near drainage outlets, and at
surface water collected from various places across the lake the intersection of the tributary that flows into the Huangpu
are shown in Fig. 2. The results were divided into five grades, River showed higher toxicity (Zhang et al., 2015). Moreover, the
namely mild toxicity, low toxicity, moderate toxicity, high tox- surface water from the BYD showed effects similar to those
icity, and extremely high toxicity, with luminescence inhibi- of the surface water from the Huangpu River, Weihe River,
tion rates of 10%, 20%, 50%, and 90%. Overall, the light inhibi- Xingqinghu Lake, and Nanhu Lake in Xi’an, China (Ma et al.,
tion rate varied from 0.51% to 58% and had an average value of 2012).
24.07%, which, according to the classification, was moderate.
A rate of 71.4% in the BYD indicates moderate or high toxi-
city. The toxicity tended to be higher in the southern part of 2.2. Factors that influence the toxicity of the surface
the BYD and the inhibition rates were highest near DTQ (59%) water
and DCQ (51.6%). The toxicity was lowest in SCD, mainly re-
flecting the extent of the area, the low population density, and 2.2.1. Surface water properties
limited human interference. The DCQ and CPT areas were rel- The physical and chemical properties of the samples of sur-
atively toxic. The southern part of the BYD is highly modified face water collected from the BYD are summarized in Table 2.
by humans, and has a high population density, numerous wa- The pH ranged from 7.17 to 8.28 and averaged 7.52. The
ter villages, and many small workshops. The dense channel conductivity ranged from 722.4 to 2420.0 μS/cm and aver-
320 journal of environmental sciences 102 (2021) 316–325

Fig. 4 – Spatial distribution of TN, TP, NH3 –N, and COD in surface water of BYD.

Table 2 – Physical and chemical indexes of surface water in the Baiyangdian.

Active phosphate
Area pH Cond(μs) ORP TDS (mg/L) DO TOC(mg/L)

SCD 7.55±0.18 955.4±223 159±11 654±163 0.03±0.01 4.8±2.7 8.2±2.7

NLZ 7.51±0.2 797.6±44 141±13 544±32 0.05±0.03 4.2±0.9 6.5±1.1
ZLZ 7.34±0.17 817.9±80 234±162 485±52 0.53±0.14 7.3±2.9 5.9±0.4
DTQ 7.46±0.1 928.4±121 135±16 640±88 0.07±0.06 5.8±3.9 7.1±1.1
QTQ 7.5±0.12 1257.5±132 160±6.8 876±97 0.01±0.01 6.7±2.9 10.1±0.9
DCQ 7.7±0.12 1975±280 164±8.8 1421±218 0.6±0.4 2.8±0.8 11.1±1.99
CPT 7.59±0.19 1630.7±66 122±25 1147±51 0.04±0.03 4.3±81 10.9±1.98

Note: The data is Mean±S.D. “Mean” is the average value of statistics, and “S.D.” is the standard deviation

aged 1188 μS/cm. The redox potential averaged 160 mg/L and tivity, dissolved solids, reactive phosphorus, and TOC, at 7.7,
ranged from 12.7 to 597.2 mg/L. The dissolved solids averaged 1975 μS/cm, 1421 mg/L, 0.6 mg/L, and 11.1 mg/L, respectively,
814 mg/L and ranged from 163 to 1768 mg/L. The dissolved were the highest.
reactive phosphorus averaged 0.27 mg/L and ranged from 0 The COD, NH4 + -N, TP, and TN concentrations in the surface
to 2.19 mg/L. The DO concentration averaged 9.07 mg/L and water at the sampling points in the BYD are shown in Fig. 3.
ranged from 0.46 to 13.11 mg/L. The total organic carbon (TOC) The concentrations of NH4 + -N in surface water ranged from
averaged 8.22 mg/L and ranged from 3.56 to 14.76 mg/L. The 0 to 8.38 mg/L and averaged 0.36 mg/L. The concentrations of
physical and chemical parameters of the water varied consid- NO3 − -N and TN ranged from 0.06 to 0.30 mg/L and from 1.25
erably between the sampling points. The pH, total dissolved to 10.34 mg/L, and averaged 0.12 and 2.22 mg/L, respectively.
solids, electrical conductivity, and DO in the northern region NH4 + -N in surface water accounted for 40% of the TN. The
of the Dian District were significantly lower than those in the spatial distribution of pollutants is shown in Fig. 4. The con-
southern region (Li et al., 2020; Liang et al., 2013, 2016). There centration of NH4 + -N was lower than 0.50 mg/L in the central
was little variation in ORP throughout the study area. The wa- and northern parts of the BYD. The NH4 + -N and TN contents
ter quality was poorest in DCQ; in this area, the DO was the in the southern part of the Dian District were higher than in
lowest (2.8 mg/L), and the average values of the pH, conduc- other areas. There is poor hydrological connectivity in DCQ
 journal of environmental sciences 102 (2021) 316–325 321

Fig. 5 – Distribution of Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, Cd, and Pb concentrations in the surface water of the BYD.

and CPT in the southern part of the BYD. The sewage collec- compared the heavy metal concentrations in the BYD with
tion is inadequate in Dianzhong and Dianbian, which is shown the surface water quality standards. The average Cr concen-
in the high NH4 + -N concentrations in the surface water. DCQ tration was 2.3 times higher than the Class V surface water
in the Dian District has the largest concentration of duck farm- standard, and the concentrations of about 50% of the sam-
ing (Zhao et al., 2001), and the non-point source discharges of ples were higher than the Class V threshold. The places that
farming wastewater also contribute to the high NH4 + -N con- had concentrations higher than the Class 5 threshold were
centrations. The COD content averaged 31 mg/L and varied mainly in the southern part of the Dian District and the con-
from 7 to 56 mg/L. The COD levels in four areas in the north centration was highest at DCQ. The average Cu concentra-
and south of the Dian District were slightly higher than the tion was lower than the surface water Class V threshold and
Class V surface water thresholds. The COD levels were below the Cu concentrations were generally lower than the Class
40 mg/L. The TP concentration averaged 0.38 mg/L and ranged 5 threshold, and only a few samples from DCQ slightly ex-
from 0.04 to 1.54 mg/L. ceeded the standard. The average Zn concentration was 1.25
As shown in Fig. 5, the concentrations (averages in brack- times higher than the Class V surface water standard, and less
ets) of Cr, Cu, Zn, Cd, Pb, and Ni ranged from 0.06 to 1.61 mg/L than 50% of the samples exceeded the standard. The Cd con-
(0.23 mg/L), 0.07 to 7.97 mg/L (0.79 mg/L), 0.96 to 5.11 mg/L centrations throughout the BYD were mostly within the stan-
(2.69 mg/L), 0 to 0.04 mg/L (0.01 mg/L), 0.01 to 0.23 mg/L dard, with only some points at SCD exceeding the standard.
(0.05 mg/L), and 0.53 to 4.9 mg/L (1.5 mg/L), respectively. We The concentrations of Pb were mainly within the standard,
322 journal of environmental sciences 102 (2021) 316–325

Fig. 6 – Correlation of surface water pollutants in the BYD.

Fig. 7 – Hierarchical clustering analysis of each index and sampling points in the BYD.

with only two samples exceeding the standard (Zhang et al., concentrations in the BYD were relatively high and tended to
2018). be higher than those in Lake Taihu, Dongting Lake, Poyang
We compared the concentrations of the N fractions in the Lake, and Dianchi Lake, which indicates severe heavy metal
BYD and other large lakes in eastern China (Table 2). The aver- pollution in the BYD (Fang et al., 2018).
age NH+ 4 -N, NO3 − -N, and TN concentrations in the BYD wa-
ter samples were 0.36 mg/L, 0.12 mg/L, and 2.22 mg/L, respec- 2.2.2. Correlations between the pollutants
tively, and were within the ranges found in other lakes, which As the intensity of anthropogenic activities in the area has in-
indicates that the BYD is as severely polluted with N as most creased in recent decades, the nutrient-rich discharges of do-
other lakes in eastern China (Zhu et al., 2018). The heavy metal mestic sewages, agricultural effluents, farmland runoff, and
 journal of environmental sciences 102 (2021) 316–325 323

Fig. 8 – Correlation analysis of environmental factors and biotoxicity in the BYD.

wastewater from aquaculture and other industries into the that the other metals and nutrients were either poorly corre-
lake have also increased, causing nutrient enrichment and lated or not correlated.
eutrophication (Zhu et al., 2018). In this study, we examined
the concentrations of a range of indicators, including conven- 2.2.3. Relationships between the main pollutants and biotoxi-
tional physical and chemical, nutrient, and heavy metal indi- city
cators in the BYD. We found that the NH4 + -N and heavy metal The Q67 bioassay has been used extensively in freshwater
concentrations were high, and that the risks from these pollu- studies, to examine the ecotoxicities of wastewater effluents
tants were high relative to the risks from the other pollutants. from gas fields, oil fields, and dyeing, electroplating, and cok-
We examined the relationships between the pollutant in- ing industries. Ma and Wang (2013) compared the organic and
dicators in the surface water of the BYD (Fig. 6) and the sur- heavy metal contents of each wastewater, and found that the
face water toxicity. We found that TN, NH4 + -N, TP, Cr, and Zn coking wastewater had the highest ecotoxicity, mainly be-
were the main pollutants in the BYD. Using correlation anal- cause of organic contaminants, but that the ecotoxicity of the
ysis of these five indicators, we found that TN and TP were electroplating wastewater that was also very high, because of
weakly correlated. The two heavy metals were not correlated. the heavy metal contents. Ecotoxicity assessments of lumi-
We also found that TN was strongly correlated with Cr, but nescent bacteria provide a rapid, sensitive and cost effective
324 journal of environmental sciences 102 (2021) 316–325

The level of biological toxicity in surface water is typically

not related to a single environmental factor but reflects the
interaction of many environmental factors. We used CCA in
CANOCO 5.0 software to examine how environmental factors
affected biological toxicity. We analyzed the data for COND,
ORP, TDS, DO, pH, COD, TN, TP, NH4 + -N, Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, and
Zn with the toxicity of the surface aquatic organisms, which
represented the species. The results in Fig. 9 show that there
were three directions, with YG (luminescent bacteria light in-
hibition rate) as the first; COD, Zn, Cd, and Ni as the second,
and the remaining indicators as the third. The eigenvalue of
the first axis was 0.32 (F = 24.568, p = 0.0040), meaning that en-
vironmental factors accounted for 32.1% of the biological ef-
fects. This suggests that the surface water composition of BYD
was complex, and that the biological toxicity was affected by
numerous factors beyond those examined in this study. If the
study were repeated, it would be useful to include more envi-
ronmental variables. NH4 + -N, Cr, Zn, and other pollutants had
more impact on organisms, while Cd and Cu had less toxic ef-
fects. Most points in CPT were ranked at the top of each pol-
lutant arrow, indicating that the sampling points in CPT were
Fig. 9 – Correspondence analysis of the environmental strongly affected by the toxicity of the pollutants. There were
factors and biotoxicity of the surface water in the BYD. individual points in other areas where the toxicity was cor-
related with pollutants, which should be examined in more
detail.

method for screening water and wastewater quality (Ma et al.,

2012).
Using hierarchical analysis and cluster analysis, we found
that the environmental indicators could be divided into two
3. Conclusions
categories, one group with conductivity and total dissolved
solids, and the other comprising the pollutant indicators,
(1) We examined the impacts of pollution on the toxicity
which shows that the pollutant indicators were more closely
of surface water organisms by comparing the concentra-
related. The cluster analysis showed that the sampling points
tions of a range of pollutants in surface water in the BYD
fell into four categories. The first group contained 21 samples,
with the standard thresholds and investigating the rela-
which were mainly concentrated in the central and northern
tionships between individual pollutants and the toxicity
parts of the Dian District. This pattern is consistent with the
of BYD surface water organisms. The main pollutants in
spatial distribution of the main pollutants. The second group
the surface water of the BYD were TN, NH4 + -N, TP, Cr,
had 1 sampling point, site 7. This site is in the Dianbian area to
and Zn.
the northwest of ZLZ, where the TP concentrations were high.
(2) NH4 + -N in surface water accounted for 40% of TN. The con-
The fourth group comprised sampling points 27 and 29, which
centrations of the nitrogen forms varied throughout the
were west of DCQ and had relatively high pollutant concen-
BYD. The NH4 + -N concentrations were less than 0.50 mg/L
trations. Group 3 contained 11 sampling points, which were
in the central and northern parts of the BYD and were high
mainly concentrated in CPT but also included sampling point
in the southern part of the Dian area. The maximum TN
1, which was in SCD. Group 4 was the most polluted group, fol-
concentration was also observed in this area.
lowed by Group 3. The results from the cluster analysis were
(3) The average Cr concentration was 2.3 times higher than
consistent with the spatial distribution of the pollutants.
the Class V surface water threshold, with about 65% of
We analyzed the relationships between the surface wa-
the samples exceeding the standard. The concentrations
ter biological toxicity and the main pollutant indicators of
exceeded this threshold at the sampling points in the
the BYD (Fig. 8) to determine the contribution of the pol-
southern part of the Dian District, and the Cr concentra-
lution indicators to the surface water toxicity. In general,
tion was highest in DCQ. The average concentration of
the results showed that the main pollution factors of the
Zn was 1.25 times higher than the Class V surface wa-
BYD surface water were related to varying degrees with the
ter threshold, and about 35% of the samples exceeded the
biological toxicity. For example, COND and TDS were pos-
threshold.
itively correlated with biological toxicity, with R2 values of
(4) The toxicity in the Dian area is caused by a combination of
0.12 and 0.11, respectively. The other pollutant indicators were
various pollutants rather than an individual pollutant. We
weakly correlated with the biological toxicity. The toxicity
examined the distribution of the toxicity and found that
to surface aquatic organisms in the Dian area was therefore
the biological toxicity was high at most of the sampling
caused by all the pollution indicators, and no single indicator
points in Duancun, and that the sampling points suffered
dominated.
from toxicity caused by the pollutants.
 journal of environmental sciences 102 (2021) 316–325 325

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