Analysis of sediment’s quality of the Oława River in Poland using indices of heavy metals and statistical techniques

This case study reports a dataset enabling the analysis of heavy metal concentrations in sediments collected in the Oława River basin. The focus is on the ecological risk associated with six metals: copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), lead (Pb), chromium (Cr), nickel (Ni), and cadmium (Cd). The key information on the pollution status of the aquatic environment is provided by the single- ( EF , I geo , and PI ) and the multi-elemental ( PLI , PI Nem , RI , and MERMQ ) pollution indices, and statistical techniques such as Spearman’s correlation, the principal component analysis, and the cluster analysis. The sediments indicate the presence of Cu, Zn, Pb, and Ni, a smaller input of Cr, and the absence of Cd, according to criteria from the State Working Group on Water in Germany (the LAWA’s guidelines) and pollution indices. As assessed by the RI index and the sediment quality guidelines (the SQGs), the potential ecological risk is possible to occur at some sampling points as a result of uncontrolled emission of pollutants. This resource supports environmental monitoring, risk management, and comparative research of aquatic environments.