Chapter 2 - Various indices to find out pollution and toxicity impact of metals

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Higher concentrations of toxic heavy metals (above critical level) harm the environment because of their poisonous effect on animals and microorganisms, endurance in the background, and bioaccumulative nature. The buildup of these harmful metals in organisms poses a health hazard to those who consume them, including humans. The impact of increasing industrialization and agricultural intensification on heavy metal pollution in agro-ecosystems needs an appropriate assessment and determination of their ecological risk. As a result, precise and exact methods are required in order to detect the pollutants concentration to stop progressive degradation of natural resources like soil, water, and air. However, determining the concentration of toxic heavy metals is not an acceptable method of assessing the overall engagement in the ecosystem’s component. Therefore, different computational tools such as pollution indices must be utilized to assess heavy metals. The use of pollution indices is the key to assessing heavy metal contamination effectively. Various simple indexes such as Contamination factor (CF), Enrichment factor (EF), and Complex indices such as Sum of contamination (PIsum), Nemerow pollution index (PINemerow), etc., are employed by researchers to evaluate the toxic impact of metals on biota. Furthermore, pollution indices are critical for monitoring the quality of natural resources and maintaining their long-term viability. A comprehensive study of the various indices to reckon the impact of these metals will help reduce the unfavorable consequences on human health and the environment.