Abstract
River sand samples have been collected from Ponnai river, Tamil Nadu, India for characterization of minerals and heavy metals by different spectroscopic techniques. Initially, the samples were subjected by Fourier Transform-Infra Red (FT-IR) spectroscopic technique and infra-red absorption bands values are observed in the range of 515–520, 695–700, 775–780 cm−1 which shows the presence of quartz in all the samples. Similarly, infra-red peaks were absorbed for feldspar, kaolinite, calcite, gibbsite and organic carbon and confirmed by X-Ray diffraction (XRD) technique. Additionally, zircon, aragonite, magnetite and kyanite minerals were identified in the samples using only the XRD method. The concentration of heavy metals such as Pb, Cr, Zn, Ni, Hg, As, Mn, Cu has been determined by flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS). An average metal concentration measured in mg kg−1 were: Pb 0.12, As 0.15, Hg 0.13, Cu 2.80, Zn 10.15 Cr 12.70, Ni 2.86 and Mn 104.94 and hence found in the order of Mn > Cr > Zn > Ni > Cu > As > Hg > Pb. These average values do not exceed the world average value and hence potentially do not affect the quality of sand in the river. In addition to that, presences of heavy metals are confirmed by scanning electron microscope equipped with energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (SEM/EDS) analysis. In order to understand the possible natural and anthropogenic sources of heavy metals, multivariate statistical techniques such as Pearson correlation, principal component and cluster analysis were performed. Results obtained from the statistical techniques were good agreement with each other.
Highlights
Sand is a naturally occurring granular material composed of finely divided rock and mineral particles and formed by the weathering of rocks
Ponnai river sand samples were characterized by different spectroscopic techniques to determine the presence of minerals and heavy metals
From the results of Fourier Transform-Infra Red (FT-IR), it is concluded that the minerals like quartz, feldspar, gibbsite and calcite are major constituent and kaolinite is the minor constituent in the samples
Summary
Sand is a naturally occurring granular material composed of finely divided rock and mineral particles and formed by the weathering of rocks. River pollution occurs, when unwanted materials enter into the river, changes the quality of river and anthropogenic activities such as discharge of industrial and domestic wastewater, the dumbing of sewage, washing of motor vehicles, agricultural activities, firing and mining makes the adverse effects in the river area. It affects the aquatic animals, micro-organisms and human health[12,13]. These anthropogenic activities enhance the level of heavy metals in the river sediments and sand samples. The detection limit for AAS is up to 0.1 μg kg−1 under optimum test conditions
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