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Estuarine systems adjacent to urban areas are at risk of contamination by contaminants from anthropogenic sources, such as heavy metals. We anticipated that the sediments of the Swan River estuary, which runs through metropolitan Perth in Western Australia, would show metal contamination related to industrialization and inputs of stormwater. Total Cu, Pb and Cd concentrations, and Cu, Pb, Cr and Zn inoperationally-defined fractions, were determined inseparate sampling exercises in near-shore sediments ofthe upper Swan River estuary.Total metal concentrations in sediments were not high (maximum values of 297 mg kg^-1 for Cu, 184 mg kg^-1 for Pb and 0.9 mg kg^-1 for Cd) when compared with Australian environmental assessmentguidelines for soils. On the basis of linear regressions between sediment metal concentrations andphysicochemical properties of the sediments (pH, organic carbon …