Assessment of spatial and temporal variation of pollutants along a natural channel receiving industrial wastewater

Sources evaluation and ecological risk assessment of heavy metals accumulated within a natural stream of Durgapur industrial zone, India, by using multivariate analysis and pollution indices

“…These heavy metals are widely used as raw materials or process catalysts to produce alloys and steels and various other industrial purposes. As a result, they are found in significant quantities in industrial wastes/wastewater which are discharged into the Tamla channel (Gupta et al 2013). In addition, deposition of heavy metals through industrial emissions can also be recognized as a source of metal contamination in the study area.…”

“…The result shows decreasing trend in metal concentrations from Site 1 to Site 8, with few exceptions for Pb, Cd and Hg (at Site 3) and Cu and Ni at (Site 4). The high values of Pb, Cd and Hg at Site 3 can be attributed to the discharge from chlor-alkali and ferro-alloy industries near to those stations, and the possible sources of Cu and Ni at Site 4 are from pharmaceutical effluents (Rai 2010;Gupta et al 2013, James et al 2013. The decrease metal concentrations in downstream may be due to the alkaline nature of the water that favors and accelerates metal deposition in bottom sediment (Salati and Moore 2010).…”

“…Contamination of soil and plants with potentially toxic elements irrigated with mixed industrial effluents was reported by Kisku et al (2000). Gupta et al (2010bGupta et al ( , 2013 assessed biochemical changes in wastewater-irrigated vegetables and also the distribution of pollutants in stream water. But no such in-depth information is available on heavy metal contamination/distribution in channel sediments and its potential ecological risk.…”

“…where n is the number of metals (n = 7 in this study) and C f is the contamination factor (C f ) of each metal present in the sediment. PLI ≤ 0 indicates perfection or control and PLI value of > 0-1 represents the baseline level of pollutants, while PLI > 1 indicates progressive deterioration of site due to elevated metal content (Gupta et al 2013).…”