RESEARCH ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY

EISSN 2319 5711

Discovery Nature, Volume 6, Number 14, November 2013

ISSN 2319 5703

nature
discovery
Assessment of various heavy metals in surface water of polluted sites in the lower stretch of river Ganga, West Bengal: a study for ecological impact
Dipak Paul, Sankar Narayan Sinha
Environmental Microbiology Research Laboratory, Department of Botany, University of Kalyani, Kalyani 741235, West Bengal, India

Correspondence: Email: sinhasn62@yahoo.co.in

Publication History Received: 13 August 2013 Accepted: 21 October 2013 Published: 1 November 2013 Citation Dipak Paul, Sankar Narayan Sinha. Assessment of various heavy metals in surface water of polluted sites in the lower stretch of river Ganga, West Bengal: a study for ecological impact. Discovery Nature, 2013, 6(14), 8-13

The objective of the study is to investigate the seasonal variations in the river water quality with respect to heavy metals contamination. Surface water samples were collected from four polluted sites of river Ganga in West Bengal during the year 2011 was analyzed for Zn, Pb, Cd and Cr. Overall a significant seasonal variation was observed for Zn, Pb, Cd and Cr. Throughout the year of study, the highest concentrations of Zn, Pb, Cd, and Cr were observed in summer, while lowest during monsoon. The mean concentrations of the metals were observed in the order: Zn> Pb> Cr> Cd. The mean concentrations of Zn, Pb, Cd, and Cr in the surface water of four sampling sites varied from 0.075-0.280, 0.033-0.141, 0.002-0.007 and 0.016- 0.022 mg/L respectively. It was observed from the study that concentration of most of these heavy metals were much higher than the maximum permissible limits. Key words: Heavy metals, River Ganga, West Bengal Abbreviation: BIS-Bureau of Indian Standard, EC-European Commission, ICMR-Indian Council of Medical Research, WHO-World Health Organization, USEPA-United States Environmental Protection Agency

ABSTRACT

1. INTRODUCTION

Water is the most valuable resource essential to sustain the life on earth. The river Ganga is one of the most utilized
rivers in the World. Due to abundant availability of water throughout the year, it has played an important role in the development of Indian civilization and economy. About 2506 km long stream of the river Ganga sustains the life to 29 cities, seven towns, and thousands of villages which are contaminating the river by over 1.3 billion liters waste water per day (Khan et al., 1998). Rapid industrialization and urban development during last few decades have provoked
Dipak Paul et al. Assessment of various heavy metals in surface water of polluted sites in the lower stretch of river Ganga, West Bengal: a study for ecological impact, Discovery Nature, 2013, 6(14), 8-13, www.discovery.org.in http://www.discovery.org.in/dn.htm 2013 Discovery Publication. All Rights Reserved

Page

some serious concerns for the environment results in inclusion of variety of pollutants into rivers including heavy metals (CPCB, 2004). Usually most of the heavy metals enter in river from various sources, it be can be either natural by erosion and weathering and or anthropogenic (Bem et al., 2003; Wong et al., 2003; Adaikpoh et al., 2005; Akoto et al., 2008). Generally in unaffected environments most of the heavy metals concentration is very low and is mostly derived from the weathering (Karbassi et al., 2008; Varol and Sen, 2012). The most important anthropogenic sources of heavy metal are various industries and domestic sewage. The industries which attribute heavy metals in river water are generally metal industries, paints and pigment industries, paper and industries, cotton textile, steel plant, galvanization of iron products and mining industries as well as indiscriminate use of heavy metal-containing fertilizer and pesticides in agricultural fields (Hatje et al., 1998; Ramos et al., 1999; Martin, 2000; Tyagi et al., 2000; Amman et al., 2002; Topcuoglu et al., 2002; Nouri et al., 2006; Saliu and Ekpo, 2006, Nouri et al., 2008). These heavy metals have accumulative effect at low level in drinking water and ground water (Prabha and Salvapathy, 1997). Due to over population and urbanization for the last few decades water quality and sanitation infrastructure of aquatic eco-system has not been Figure 1 maintained accordingly and as a result river contamination with heavy Map of the river Ganga showing sampling sites metal poses a great threat. The practice of discharging waste from industries and untreated domestic sewage into the aquatic eco-system is continually going on that leads to the increase in the concentration of heavy metals in river water (Khadse et al., 2008; Juang et al., 2009; Sekabira et al., 2010). Though some metals like Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni and Zn are required as nutrients in trace amount for life processes in plants and microorganisms, while many other metals like Cd, Cr, Co and Pb have no known physiological activity (Kar et al., 2008; Suthar and Singh, 2008; Aktar et al., 2010). These heavy metals are not readily degradable in the environment and accumulate in the animal and human bodies to a very high toxic levels leading to undesirable effects beyond a certain limit (Marschner, 1995; Bruins et al., 2000; Sin et al., 2001; Otitoloju, 2002; Yabe et al., 2010; Adakole and Abolude, 2012). The fatal diseases such as eyelid edema, renal tumour, nasal mucous membranes and pharynx congestion, increase blood pressure and cardiovascular diseases, osteoporosis, nephritis, anuria, cancer, extensive lesions in the kidneys, headache and malfunctions of different systems of the body caused by heavy metals have been reported by several authors (WHO, 1995; Staessen et al., 1999; FDA, 2005; Ikem and Egiebor, 2005, Chukwujindu et al., 2007). They are also known to interfere with synthesis & metabolism of the hormones (Manjappa and Puttaioh, 2005; Riddell et al., 2005). Therefore, monitoring these metals is important for safety assessment of the environment and human health in particular. In the present study, we have determined the heavy metals concentration in different surface water samples collected from the polluted site of river Ganga in West Bengal.

2. MATERIALS AND METHODS

2.1. Sampling site
The study was performed in summer, monsoon and winter season in 2011 for the four selected sites of river Ganga. Water samples were collected from near the effluent discharge point of rayon factory, Tribeni (S1); thermal power plant, Tribeni (S2); jute mill, Bansberia (S3) and sewage, Bansberia(S4), West Bengal of the river Ganga (Figure 1).

2.2. Collection of samples

The samples were collected from the surface using Ruttner water sampler and kept in high grade sterilized plastic bottles with the addition of 2 mL concentrated HNO3 in order to preserve the metals and also to avoid precipitation and transported to the laboratory immediately for further analysis.

2.3. Heavy metal analysis

For the analysis of heavy metals like zinc (Zn), lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd) and chromium (Cr), water samples (200 mL) were digested with 5 mL of di-acid mixture (HNO3:HClO4=9:4 ratio) on a hot plate and filtered by Whatman No. 1 filter paper and made up the volume to 50 mL by double distilled water. The analysis for the heavy metals was done using
Dipak Paul et al. Assessment of various heavy metals in surface water of polluted sites in the lower stretch of river Ganga, West Bengal: a study for ecological impact, Discovery Nature, 2013, 6(14), 8-13, www.discovery.org.in http://www.discovery.org.in/dn.htm 2013 Discovery Publication. All Rights Reserved

Page

Table 1 Concentration of heavy metals in different Indian rivers Rivers Achankovil Baitarani Brahmani Damodar Gomti Hindon Koel Mahanadi Subarnarekha Zinc (Zn) 415.00 272.30 0.40-80.10 14.40-29.80 58.00 31.56 11.00 23.00

Heavy metal concentration (g/L) Lead (Pb) Cadmium (Cd) 72.00 6.00 3.45 10.00-27.00 0.40-4.00 300.00 15.80-27.60 0.10-0.50 37.00 1.67 2.68 19.13 -

Chromium (Cr) 9.60 11550.00 1.50-68.80 15.00 10.89 9.80 1.13

References Prasad et al., (2006) Nayak et al., (2001) Reza and Singh, 2010 Chatterjee et al., (2010) Singh et al., 2005 Jain and Sharma (2006) Sundaray, (2009) Konhauser et al., (1997) Senapati and Sahu, (1996)

Table 2 Seasonal variation of heavy metals concentration (mg/L) in different sampling sites Concentration of heavy metals (mg/L) in different sampling sites Heavy metals Season S1 S2 S3 Winter 0.228 0.283 0.085 Zn Summer 0.347 0.362 0.096 Monsoon 0.141 0.197 0.046 Winter 0.159 0.087 0.031 Pb Summer 0.172 0.099 0.048 Monsoon 0.092 0.046 0.022 Winter 0.008 0.006 0.002 Cd Summer 0.009 0.008 0.003 Monsoon 0.006 0.005 0.001 Winter 0.024 0.020 0.017 Cr Summer 0.027 0.023 0.019 Monsoon 0.017 0.014 0.013

S4 0.265 0.348 0.173 0.091 0.118 0.063 0.004 0.006 0.002 0.018 0.020 0.014

atomic absorption spectrophotometer (Varian AA240) (APHA, 1995). The calibration curves were prepared separately for all the metals by using different concentrations of standard solutions. A reagent blank sample was also prepared, analyzed and subtracted from the samples to rectify for impurities present in the reagent and other sources of errors. Mean of three replicates were taken for each experiment.

3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

All the surface water samples collected from the different effluent exposed sites of the river Ganga were analyzed for Zn, Pb, Cd and Cr. Metal concentration in different river water in India is illustrated in Table 1. The presence of essential micronutrient viz Zn was detected in different water samples with concentrations within the ranges of 0.046-0.362 mg/L (Table 2). Besides, the presence of three toxic heavy metals viz. Pb, Cd and Cr were detected in all water samples in the range of 0.022-0.172, 0.001-0.009 and 0.013-0.027 mg/L in studied seasons respectively. Similar types of observation were also reported in the river Purna (Shah et al., 2005). Among the four heavy metals, significant seasonal change was noted in the concentrations in surface water. Throughout the year of study, the highest concentrations of Zn, Pb, Cd, and Cr were observed in summer, while lowest during monsoon. Similar trends of results were also reported by Haque, et al., (2005) in the surface water of the river Ganga at Sundarban estuary. These kinds of pattern indicate the accumulation of the metal concentration during low flow condition of River. It might be due to increased temperature and higher evaporation rate of surface water (Abdel-Satar, 2001). The mean concentrations of the metals were observed in the order: Zn> Pb> Cr> Cd. Similar result was also reported in Ganga-Brahamputra-Meghna Estuary by Khan et al., (1998). The mean concentrations of Zn, Pb, Cd, and Cr in the surface water of four sampling sites varied from 0.075-0.280, 0.033-0.141, 0.002-0.007 and 0.016- 0.022 mg/L respectively (Figure 2). Out of these four study sites, the highest mean concentration of Zn (0.280 mg/L) were observed at S2 where as Pb (0.141 mg/L), Cd (0.007 mg/L) and Cr (0.022 mg/L) were maximum at S1. The lowest concentrations of all the heavy metals (Zn, Pb, Cd and Cr) were observed at S3 throughout the study. The concentrations of Zn and Cr were within the safe limit prescribed by the different standard organization (Table 3) but the concentrations of Pb and Cd exceeded the few standards for water.
Dipak Paul et al. Assessment of various heavy metals in surface water of polluted sites in the lower stretch of river Ganga, West Bengal: a study for ecological impact, Discovery Nature, 2013, 6(14), 8-13, www.discovery.org.in http://www.discovery.org.in/dn.htm 2013 Discovery Publication. All Rights Reserved

Page

10

Table 3 Prescribed limits for heavy metals concentration in water Standards BIS EC ICMR USEPA WHO Zinc (Zn) 15 0.1 5 5 3 Lead (Pb) 0.1 0.01 0.1 0.015 0.01

Heavy metal concentration (mg/L) Cadmium (Cd) 0.01 0.005 0.01 0.005 0.003

Chromium (Cr) 0.05 0.05 0.05 0.1 0.05

4. CONCLUSION
The present study revealed that most of the water samples of river Ganga were found polluted in term of heavy metal contamination profile and showed a trend in seasonal variation. The higher concentration of heavy metal load in the river surface water can be attributed to the discharge of industrial effluents and municipal wastes of river bed and catchment area. Though some of the detected heavy metal like zinc is beneficial for human and plants up to a certain limit, it may be harmful beyond that. Considering the status of heavy metal concentrations in the surface water, it may be concluded that the river water in this area as such is not suitable for drinking purpose due to the higher concentrations of some heavy metals. Adoption of adequate measures to remove the heavy metal load Figure 2 from the industrial waste water and renovation of Mean concentration of heavy metals in different sampling site sewage treatment plants are suggested to avoid further deterioration of the river water quality. Therefore, the river water should be subjected to suitable chemical or biological treatments for keeping the heavy metals within the prescribed safe levels.

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT
This work is supported by funding from University of Kalyani, West Bengal, India.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The authors are thankful to Department of Botany, University of Kalyani, West Bengal, India for providing infrastructure support to carry out the research.

REFERENCE
1. Abdel Satar AM. Environmental studies on the impact of the drains effluent upon the southern sector of Lake Manzalah, Egyptian Journal of Aquatic Biology and Fisheries, 2001, 5, 17-30 Adaikpoh EO, Nwajei GE, Ogala JE. Heavy metals concentrations in coal and sediments from river Ekulu in Enugu, Coal City of Nigeria, Journal of Applied Sciences and Environmental Management, 2005, 9(3), 5-8 Adakole JA, Abolude DS. Pollutional status of Kubanni lake through metal concentration in water and sediment columns Zaria, Nigeria, Research Journal of Environmental and Earth Sciences, 2012, 4(4), 424427 Aktar MW, Paramasivam M, Ganguly M, Purkait S, Sengupta D. Assessment and occurrence of various heavy metals in surface water of Ganga river around Kolkata: a study for toxicity and ecological impact, Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 2010, 160 (1-4), 207-213 Ammann AA, Michalke B, Schramel P. Speciation of heavy metals in environmental water by ion chromatography coupled to ICP-MS, Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry, 2002, 372(3), 448-452 6. APHA, Standard methods for the examination of water and waste water, 19th Ed, American Public Health Association, American Water Works Association & Water Environment Federation, Washington, DC. 1995 7. Bem H, Gallorini M, Rizzio E, Krzemin SM. Comparative studies on the concentrations of some elements in the urban airparticulate matter in Lodz City of Poland and in Milan, Italy, Environment International, 2003, 29(4), 423428 8. Bruins MR, Kapil S, Oehme FW. Microbial resistance to metals in the environment, Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, 2000, 45, 198207. 9. Chatterjee SK, Bhattacharjee I, Chandra G. Water quality assessment near an industrial site of Damodar River, India, Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 2010, 161(1-4), 177-189 10. Chukwujindu MAI, Godwin EN, Francis OA. Assessment of contamination by heavy metals in sediments of Ase River, Niger Delta, Nigeria, Research Journal of Environmental Sciences, 2007, 1(5), 220-228

2.

3.

4.

5.

Dipak Paul et al. Assessment of various heavy metals in surface water of polluted sites in the lower stretch of river Ganga, West Bengal: a study for ecological impact, Discovery Nature, 2013, 6(14), 8-13, www.discovery.org.in http://www.discovery.org.in/dn.htm 2013 Discovery Publication. All Rights Reserved

Page

11

Dipak Paul et al. Assessment of various heavy metals in surface water of polluted sites in the lower stretch of river Ganga, West Bengal: a study for ecological impact, Discovery Nature, 2013, 6(14), 8-13, www.discovery.org.in http://www.discovery.org.in/dn.htm 2013 Discovery Publication. All Rights Reserved

Page

11. CPCB. Status of Water Quality in India. Central Pollution Control Board, New Delhi, India. 2004 12. FDA, Food and Drug Administration, Dietary Reference Intakes for Vitamin A, Vitamin K, Arsenic, Boron, Chromium, Copper, Iodine, Iron, Manganese, Molybdenum, Nickel, Silicon, Vanadium, and Zinc. Report of the Panel on Micronutrients. National Academy Press, Washington, DC, Food and Drug Administration. Dietary supplements. Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition; 2001 13. Haque MR, Ahmad JU, Chowdhury MDA, Ahmed MK, Rahman MS. Seasonal variation of heavy metal concentrations in surface water of the rivers and estuaries of Sundarban mangrove forest, Pollution Research, 2005, 24, 463-472. 14. Hatje V, Bidone ED, Maddock JL. Estimation of the natural and anthropogenic components of heavy metal fluxes in fresh water Sinos river, Rio Grande do Sul state, South Brazil, Environmental Technology, 1998, 19(5), 483-487 15. Ikem A, Egiebor NO. Assessment of trace elements in canned fishes (mackerel, tuna, salmon, sardines and herrings) marketed in Georgia and Alabama (United States of America), Journal of Food Composition and Analysis, 2005, 18, 771-787 16. Jain CK, Sharma MK. Heavy metal transport in the Hindon river basin, India, Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 2006, 112(1-3), 255-270 17. Juang DF, Lee CH, Hsueh SC. Chlorinated volatile organic compounds found near the water surface of heavily polluted rivers, International Journal of Environmental Science & Technology, 2009, 6(4), 545-556 18. Kar D, Sur P, Mandal SK, Saha T, Kole RK. Assessment of heavy metal pollution in surface water, International Journal of Environmental Science and Technology, 2008, 5(1), 119-124 19. Karbassi AR, Nouri J, Ayaz GO. Flocculation of trace metals during mixing of Talar river water with Caspian Seawater, International Journal of Environmental Research, 2007, 1(1), 66-73 20. Khadse GK, Patni PM, Kelkar PS, Devotta S. Qualitative evaluation of Kanhan river and its tributaries flowing over central Indian plateau, Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 2008, 147(1-3), 83-92 21. Khan YSA, Hussain MS, Hossain SMG, Hallimuzzaman AHM. An environmental assessment of trace metals in Ganges BrahamputraMeghna Estuary, Journal of Remote Sensing and Environment, 1998, 2, 103117 22. Konhauser KO, Powell MA, Fyfe WS, Longstaffe FJ, Tripathy S. Trace element chemistry of major rivers in Orissa State, India, Environmental Geology, 1997, 29(1-2), 132-141 23. Manjappa S, Puttaioh ET. Evaluation of trace metals in the sediments of river Bhadra near Bhadravathi town, Karnataka, India, Journal of Industrial Pollution Control, 2005, 21(2), 271276 24. Marschner H. Mineral nutrition of higher plants. London: Academic. 1995 25. Martin CW. Heavy metal trends in floodplain sediments and valley fill, River Lahn, Germany, Catena, 2000, 39, 53 68 26. Nayak BB, Panda UC, Panigrahy PK, Acharya BC. Dynamics of heavy metals in Dhamara Estuary of Orissa state in India, Chemical and Environmental Research, 2001, 10(3-4), 203218 27. Nouri J, Mahvi AH, Babaei A, Ahmadpour E. Regional pattern distribution of groundwater fluoride in the Shush aquifer of Khuzestan County Iran, Fluoride, 2006, 39(4), 321-325 28. Nouri J, Mahvi AH, Jahed GR, Babaei AA. Regional distribution pattern of groundwater heavy metals resulting from agricultural activities, Environmental Geology, 2008, 55(6), 1337-1343

29. Otitoloju AA. Evaluation of joint action toxicity of binary mixtures of heavy metal against the mangrove periwinkle, Tympanoctonus fuscatus var raula (L.), Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, 2002, 53, 404-415 30. Prabha S, Salvapathy P. Heavy metals pollution in Indian rivers. Indian Journal of Environmental Protection, 1997, 19(6), 641-649 31. Prasad MBK, Ramanathan AL, Shrivastav SK, Anshumali, Rajinder S. Metal fractionation studies in surfacial and core sediments in the Achankovil river basin in India, Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 2006, 121(1-3), 77-102 32. Ramos L, Fernandez MA, Gonzales MJ, Hernandey LM. Heavy metal pollution in water, sediments, and earthworms from the Ebro River, Spain, Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, 1999, 63, 305311 33. Reza R, Singh G. Heavy metal contamination and its indexing approach for river water, International Journal of Environmental Science and Technology, 2010, 7(4), 785-792 34. Riddell DJ, Culp JM, Baird DJ. Behavioural response to sublethal cadmium within an experiment aquatic food web, Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, 2005, 24, 431 441 35. Saliu JK, Ekpo MP. Preliminary chemical and biological assessment of Ogbe Creek, Lagos Nigeria. West Africa Journal of Applied Ecology, 2006, 9, 14-22 36. Sekabira K, Oryem Origa H, Basamba TA, Mutumba G, Kakudidi E. Assessment of heavy metal pollution in the urban stream sediments and its tributaries, International Journal of Environmental Science and Technology, 2010, 7(3), 435-446 37. Senapati NK, Sahu KC. Heavy metal distribution in Subarnarekha river east coast of India, Indian Journal of Marine Sciences, 1996, 25(2), 109-114 38. Shah BA, Shah AV, Ahire ND. Characteristics of Purna river water of Navasari and removal of trace toxic metals by ionexchange process using preconcentration techniques, Pollution Research, 2005, 24, 415-422. 39. Sin SN, Chua H, Lo W, Ng LM. Assessment of heavy metal cations in sediments of Shing Mun River, Hong Kong, Environment International, 2001, 26, 297301 40. Singh VK, Singh KP, Mohan D. Status of heavy metals in water and bed sediments of river Gomti--a tributary of the Ganga River, India, Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 2005, 105(1-3), 43-67 41. Staessen JA, Roels HA, Emelianov D, Kuznetsova T, Thijs L, Vangronsveld J, Fagard R. Environmental exposure to cadmium, forearm bone density, and risk of fractures: prospective population study, Lancet, 1999, 353, 1140 1144 42. Sundaray SK. Application of multivariate statistical techniques in hydro-geochemical studies-a case study: BrahmaniKoel River (India), Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 2009, 164 (1-4), 297-310 43. Suthar S, Singh S. Vermicomposting of domestic waste by using two epigeic earthworms (Perionyx excavates and Perionyx sansibaricus), International Journal of Environmental Science and Technology, 2008, 5(1), 99-106 44. Tyagi P, Buddhi D, Chowdhary R, Sawahaney RL. Degradation of ground water quality due to heavy metals in Industrial areas of India, Indian Journal of Environmental Protection, 2000, 20(3)174-181 45. Varol M, en B. Assessment of nutrient and heavy metal contamination in surface water and sediments of the upper Tigris River, Turkey, Catena, 2012, 92, 110 46. WHO, World Health Organization, Lead. Environmental Health Criteria, Geneva, 1995, 165 47. Wong CSC, Li XD, Zhang G, Qi SH, Peng XZ. Atmospheric deposition of heavy metals in the Pearl River Delta, China, Atmospheric Environment, 2003, 37(6), 767-776

12

48. Yabe J, Ishizuka M, Umemura T. Current levels of heavy metal pollution in Africa, Journal of Veterinary Medical Science, 2010, 72(10), 1257-1263

Dipak Paul et al. Assessment of various heavy metals in surface water of polluted sites in the lower stretch of river Ganga, West Bengal: a study for ecological impact, Discovery Nature, 2013, 6(14), 8-13, www.discovery.org.in http://www.discovery.org.in/dn.htm 2013 Discovery Publication. All Rights Reserved

Page

13