The Caspian Sea is exposed to numerous anthropogenic activities such as untreated wastewater discharge and agricultural activities which increased trace metals contamination. The current study was employed to assess the distribution, ecological risk assessment, and source identification of some trace metals in 125 samples of surface sediments and soil from 6 distinctive sections of Babolsar in the coastal line of the Caspian Sea. The sediment quality guidelines (SQGs) and individual risk assessment indices including enrichment factor (EF), geo-accumulation index (Igeo), contamination factor (Cf), and potential risk factor (Er) suggested a hazardous level of Cd and Cr contamination. There was a relatively high level of Pb contamination while other studied trace metals were at a low contamination level. Cumulative risk indices such as modified degree of contamination (mCD), pollution load index (PLI), and the potential ecological risk index (RI) identified that the river, wetland, and farmland sites were more contaminated compared to the Caspian Sea samples which exhibited a moderate level of contamination. The lowest level of contamination was recorded in the coastline and river delta sites. Two analytical methods including Pearson’s correlation coefficient and multivariate clustering dendrogram were also applied to identify the potential sources of contamination. The results suggested that wastewaters, nitrogen, and phosphate fertilizers were the main anthropogenic source of Cd, Co, Pb, and Ni while fossil fuels and transportation activities were the predominant sources of anthropogenic Cu, V, and Zn contamination. Further studies about trace metals risk assessment and fractionation could contribute to more effective decisions for reducing the anthropogenic trace metal pollution in the Caspian Sea.

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