An emerging contaminant in sediments of the largest wetland ecosystem in northern China: Bioaccessibility and probabilistic adverse effects on aquatic biota

Abstract Baiyangdian Lake is the largest wetland ecosystem in northern China. It has played an important role in the ecological function of Xiongan New Area, a state-level developing economic zone in northern China since 2017, signifying that pollutant occurrence of the lake is increasingly significant. Beryllium (Be) is an emerging inorganic contaminant and elicited a concern due to its mutagenic and carcinogenic properties. The total and bioaccessible concentrations of Be in sediments of the lake along with its probabilistic risks on aquatic biota were investigated. The total and bioaccessible concentrations of Be were 0.87–4.62 and 0.14–0.36 mg/kg, respectively. The total concentration of Be represented an anthropogenic enrichment and bioaccessible Be was lower than 17% of the total Be concentration. The probabilistic ecological risk assessment based on bioaccessible Be concentration indicated that sediments of Baiyangdian Lake exhibited a low (0.31%) probability of adverse risk to aquatic biota.