Comprehensive assessment of seldom monitored trace elements contamination and its anthropogenic impact record in a sediment core from the North Yellow Sea

The environmental status of seldom monitored trace elements (SMTEs) has rarely been reported in the North Yellow Sea (NYS). This study investigated the levels, sources and ecological risks of 18 SMTEs in a 209-cm-long sediment core from NYS. The concentrations of SMTEs exhibited a gradual increasing trend in the upper 70 cm. Based on the assessment results of enrichment factor (EF), geo-accumulation index (Igeo) and contamination factor (CF), obvious enrichment of Cs, Li, and U was observed for the NYS sediments, indicating possible anthropogenic sources, which are consistent with the geochemical background normalized patterns. Moreover, the pollution load index (PLI) values ranged from 0.93 to 1.24 and showed a steadily increasing trend in the upper 70 cm part, indicating gradual deterioration of environment in NYS. Combined with the multivariate statistical analysis results and PLI variations, the first principal component (PC1) with high positive loading on Be, Cs, Ga, Hf, In, Li, Nb, Rb, Sc, Ta and Tl was very likely an "anthropogenic factor". Therefore, the historical anthropogenic impact record in the NYS was reconstructed based on the PC1 scores, which indicated significant anthropogenic influence over the past 300 years. This study provides valuable information for understanding the pollution history of SMTEs and historical record of anthropogenic impact in the NYS.