Abstract
Selected heavy metals (Mg, Al, K, Ca, Ti, Fe, V, Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, Zn, As, Cd, Ba, La and Pb) in the coastal sediment samples from the Pattipulam to Dhevanampattinam along the East Coast of Tamil Nadu, India has been determined to assess the contamination and metal enrichment status. The metal concentration were analysed in sediment samples using Energy dispersive X-ray flurascence technique. The mean concentration found to be : 1665 mg kg-1 for Mg; 21719 mg kg-1 for Al; 8405 mg kg-1 for K; 9284 mg kg-1 for Ca; 1520 mg kg-1 for Ti; 6554 mg kg-1 for Fe; 35.3 mg kg-1 for V; 30.1 mg kg-1 for Cr; 130.4 mg kg-1 for Mn; 2.4 mg kg-1 for Co; 20.2 mg kg-1 for Ni; 62.2 mg kg-1 for Zn, 6.2 mg kg-1 for As, 3.4 mg kg-1 for Cd; 404.9 mg kg-1 for Ba; 15.1 mg kg-1 for La; 12.1 mg kg-1 for Pb; The determined mean metal concentration is in the order of Al > Ca > K > Fe > Mg > Ti > Ba > Mn > Zn > V > Cr > Ni > La > Pb > As > Cd > Co. A mean concentrations of heavy metals found in sediments are significantly lower than those from the background values. The heavy metals pollution assessments of sediments are determined by using pollution indices like contamination factor (CF), pollution load index (PLI) and potential contamination index (Cp). The sequence of the contamination factors of studied metals is Cd > Ba > Zn > Pb > As > Ca > Ti > Cr > K > Ni > Al > V > La > Mn > Fe > Co > Mg. This study reflects these pollution indices are sufficient to assess the pollution status of sediments.
Highlights
Human actions are causing the slow extermination of plant and animal species in nature through toxic pollution due to industrial and technological advancement in recent decades [1]
This paper reports the elemental concentrations of coastal sediments from Pattipulam to Dhevanampattinam of East Coast of Tamil Nadu, Bay of Bengal
3100 ± 100 33900 ±1200 98.8 ± 6.59 112.1 ± 4.01 568.2 ± 19.85 12.8 ± 0.55 69.3 ± 2.98 127.9 ± 4.88 mg kg-1 for Pb; This mean concentration values of heavy metals in sediments do not exceed the natural background levels of heavy metals given by Turekian and Wedepohl, [20]
Summary
Human actions are causing the slow extermination of plant and animal species in nature through toxic pollution due to industrial and technological advancement in recent decades [1]. Heavy metals are both extremely toxic and ubiquitous in natural environments and they occur in soil, surface water and plants, and it is readily mobilized by human activities such as mining and dumping industrial waste in natural habitats such as forests, rivers, lakes, and ocean [2]. One of the largest problems associated with their threat to the ecosystem is the potential for bioaccumulation and biomagnifications causing heavier exposure. It is necessary to investigate the distribution and pollution degree of heavy metal, in order to interpret the mechanism of transportation and accumulation of pollutants and to provide basic information for coast utilization and supervision [10, 11]
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