Heavy metal contamination in river water and sediments of the Swarnamukhi River Basin, India: risk assessment and environmental implications.
The concentration of heavy metals was analyzed each of 20 river water, suspended sediments and bed sediments along the stretch of Swarnamukhi River Basin. River water is not contaminated with heavy metals except Fe and Mn. Contamination factor in sediments shows considerable to very high degree contamination with Cr, Cu, Pb and Zn. The sources of these metals could be residential wastes, sewer outfall, fertilizers, pesticides (M-45 + carbondine) and traffic activities apart from natural weathering of granitic rocks present in the basin area. Principal component analyses indicate the interaction between metals in different media. The comparison of metals (Cu, Pb and Zn) in bed sediments of Swarnamukhi River with the Indian and world averages indicates that the values obtained in the basin are above the Indian averages and far below to the world averages. Average shale values and sediment quality guidelines point toward the enrichment and contamination of Cu, Cr, Pb and Zn to several fold leading to eco-toxicological risks in basin.
['Patel|Priyanka|P|', 'Raju|N Janardhana|NJ|', 'Reddy|B C Sundara Raja|BCSR|', 'Suresh|U|U|', 'Sankar|D B|DB|', 'Reddy|T V K|TVK|']
D004784:Environmental Monitoring D019015:Geologic Sediments D007194:India D019216:Metals, Heavy D025341:Principal Component Analysis D018570:Risk Assessment D045483:Rivers D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
Heavy metal Swarnamukhi River Suspended sediments Contamination factor Sediment quality guidelines Heavy metal pollution index