Ecological risk assessment of shallow groundwater pollution in industrial parks: A combined approach of chemical analysis and zebrafish embryo toxicity evaluation

This study offers a comprehensive approach to assess the ecological risks of groundwater pollution in industrial parks through integrating chemical analysis with biological toxicity testing. By analyzing 31 inorganic and 92 organic pollutants in groundwater from nine representative industrial parks and using zebrafish embryo toxicity assays to test the whole samples, we identified significant variations in pollutant profiles across different sites. In addition to common inorganic indicators like ammonia nitrogen and heavy metals, organic contaminants such as pyrethroids and volatile phenols were also prevalent. The Water Quality Index and Risk Quotient evaluation approaches identified high-risk areas in pharmaceutical-related industrial parks., which were also confirmed by zebrafish toxicity tests. However, despite some sites being classified as low-risk based on chemical analysis, significant toxicological effects, including mortality, reduced hatching rate, malformations and behavioral toxicity, were observed in bioassays. Correlation analysis further observed significant associations between toxicological outcomes and pollutants such as sulfate, linear alkylbenzene sulfonates, arsenic, iron, beryllium, volatile phenols, benzene, chlorobenzene, toluene, 1,2-dichloroethane, etridiazole, γ-BHC, pyrethroids and polychlorinated biphenyls. These findings emphasize the need to combine traditional chemical analysis with biological testing for a more holistic assessment of groundwater quality, offering valuable insights into pollution risks and contributing to more effective remediation and conservation strategies.