Assessing the level of contamination of metals in surface soils at thermal power area: Evidence from developing country (India)

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the concentrations and contamination level of heavy metals and metalloid (i.e., Zn, Fe, Cu, Mn, Pb and As) in sediment samples taken from a thermal power station's 5 km buffer area (Bandel thermal power station-BTPS) in West Bengal, India. The atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AAS) was used to determine the presence of heavy metals in soil samples. Heavy metal and metalloid concentrations such as Zn, Fe, Cu, Mn, Pb and As were studied using various contamination and pollution-related indexes such as geo-accumulation index, enrichment factor, contamination factor, contamination degree, modified degree of contamination index, and pollution load index, and spatial distribution was presented using interpolation technique. An ecological risk index for all metals and a forecasted ecological risk index are also used to investigate the impact of heavy metals on biological elements in the soil. ANOVA and the Kruskal-Wallis test were among the multivariate statistical procedures used. Hierarchical cluster analysis was used to estimate the spatial similarity of sample locations, and Pearson's correlation was used to determine the relationship between different metal concentrations and soil physico-chemical parameters. Almost all of the sample sites had soils of very good to medium quality, according to the study. All heavy metals at this research site, with the exception of arsenic and lead, behave as plant micronutrients. Furthermore, no heavy metal band, with the exception of As, had a consistent concentration. Almost all of the sampling locations had extremely low to very low levels of pollution. • The current study investigates the impact of a thermal power station on the soil quality in the surrounding area. • Geo-accumulation, enrichment factor, contamination factor, and pollution load index applied to illustrate soil contamination • The average soil quality rating implies that soil quality has degraded insignificantly across a radius of 0–2 km. • Almost every sampling point in the study area had pollution levels that were extremely low to low.