Riverwater pollution with potentially toxic elements can be quantified via hydrological studies, while its potential impact on the ecosystem and human health can be assessed via the indices of ecological risk (RI) and human health hazard (HI). This study aims to assess potential ecological and human health risks of trace-element pollution of the Saigon River surface water, based on seasonal, position, and tidal changes. Surface waters samples are taken during dry and rainy seasons and analyzed for Cu, Cr, Mn, Pb, Ni, and Zn. The trace-element concentrations are used to compute RI and HI. Of the six elements, Cuaccountedfor87.7and12.5%ofthetotalvarianceofRIand HI, respectively. The RI and HI values are strongly correlated and are higher in the dry season than in the rainy season.TheHIvalueof>1forchildrensuggeststhat children’shealthmaybesensitivetotheadverseimpactsofthecurrentstatus ofthetrace-elementpollution.Overall,thetrace-elementpollutionoftheriver surfacewaterisatamoderateecologicalriskindryseasonbutatalow ecologicalriskinrainyseason.The potentially hazardous elements can have a detrimental impact on children’s health in both seasons.
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