Abstract
The concentrations of heavy metals (As, Ba, Co, Cr, Cu, Ni, Mo, Pb, Sr, V and Zn) were studied in soils to understand metal contamination due to industrialization and urbanization around Manali industrial area in Chennai, Southern India. This area is affected by the industrial activity and saturated by industries like petrochemicals, refineries, and fertilizers generating hazardous wastes. The contamination of the soils was assessed on the basis of geoaccumulation index, enrichment factor (EF), contamination factor and degree of contamination. Soil samples were collected from the industrial area of Manali from the top 10-cm-layer of the soil. Soil samples were analyzed for heavy metals by using Philips MagiX PRO-2440 Wavelength dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometry. The data revealed elevated concentrations of Chromium (149.8–418.0 mg/kg), Copper (22.4–372.0 mg/kg), Nickel (11.8–78.8 mg/kg), Zinc (63.5–213.6 mg/kg) and Molybdenum (2.3–15.3 mg/kg). The concentrations of other elements were similar to the levels in the earth’s crust or pointed to metal depletion in the soil (EF < 1). The high-EFs for some heavy metals obtained in the soil samples show that there is a considerable heavy metal pollution, which could be correlated with the industries in the area. Contamination sites pose significant environmental hazards for terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. They are important sources of pollution and may result in ecotoxicological effects on terrestrial, groundwater and aquatic ecosystems. In this perspective there is need for a safe dumping of waste disposal in order to minimize environmental pollution.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alloway BJ (1995) Heavy metals in soils. Glasgow, Scotland Blackie Academic and Professional Publishers, London, pp 22–51
Amundsun CE, Hanssen JE, Semb A, Steinnes E (1992) Long-range transport of trace elements to southern Norway. Atmos Environ 26A:1309–1324
Ansari AA, Singh IB, Tobschall HJ (1999) Status of anthropogenically induced metal pollution in the kanpur-unnao industrial region of the Ganga plain, India. Environ Geol 38(1):25–33
Aswathanarayana U (1995) Geoenvironment: an introduction. A.A. Balkema Publishers, Rotterdam, p 270
Blaser P, Zimmermann S, Luster J, Shotyk W (2000) Critical examination of of trace element enrichments and depletion in soils: As, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn in Swiss forest soils. Sci Total Environ 249:257–280
Buat-Menerd P, Chesselt R (1979) Variable influence of the atmospheric flux on the trace metal chemistry of oceanic suspended matter. Earth Planet Sci Lett 42:398–411
Chen M, Ma LQ, Hoogeweg CG, Harris WG (2001) Arsenic background concentrations in Florida, USA surface soils: determination and interpretation. Environ Forensics 2:117–126
Chlopecka A, Bacon JR, Wilson HJ, Kay J (1996) Forms of cadmium, lead and zinc in contaminated soils from southwest Poland. J Environ Qual 25:69–79
Dang Z, Liu C, Haigh MJ (2002) Mobility of heavy metals associated with the natural weathering of coal mine spoils. Environ Pollut 118:419–426
Govil PK, Reddy GLN, Krishna AK (2001) Soil Contamination due to heavy metals in Patancheru industrial development area. Environ Geol 41:461–469
Govil PK, Rao TG, Krishna AK (1998) Arsenic contamination in Patancheru industrial area, Medak District. Andhra Pradesh. J Environ Geochem 1:5–9
Govil PK (1985) X-ray fluorescence analysis of major, minor and selected trace elements in new IWG reference rock samples. J Geol Soc India 26:38–42
Hakanson L (1980) An ecological risk index for aquatic pollution control. A sedimentological approach. Water Res 14:975–1001
Jonathan MP, Ram Mohan V, Srinivasulu S (2004) Geochemical variation of major and trace elements in recent sediments of the Gulf of Mannar the southeast coast of India. Environ Geol 45(4):466–480
Kabata-Pendias A, Pendias H (1999) Biogeochemistry of trace elements, 2nd edn. PWN, Warsaw (In polish)
Krishna AK, Govil PK (2004) Heavy metal contamination of Soil around Pali Industrial Area, Rajasthan, India. Environ Geol 47(1):38–44
Krishna AK, Govil PK (2005) Heavy metal distribution and contamination in soils of Thane-Belapur industrial development area, Mumbai, Western India. Environ Geol 47(8):1054–1061
Krishna AK, Govil PK (2007) Soil contamination due to heavy metals from an industrial area of surat, Gujarat, Western India. Environ Moni Assess 124:263–275
Karl Fent (2004) Ecotoxicological effects at contaminated sites. Toxicology 205:223–240
Krzysztof L, Wiechula D, Korns I (2003) Metal contamination of farming soils affected by industry. Environ Int (Online)
Muller G (1981) Die. Schwermetall belastung der sedimenten des Neckars und Seiner Nebenflusse. Chemiker-Zeitung 6:157–164
Muller G (1969) Index of Geoaccumulation in sediments of the Rhine River. Geo J 2:108–118
Navas A, Machin J (2002) Spatial distribution of heavy metals and arsenic in soil of Aragon (northeast spain), Controlling factors and environmental implications. Appl Geochem 17:961–973
Van Straalen NM (2002) Assessment of soil contamination—a functional perspective. Biodegradation 13:41–52
Obiajunwa EI, Pelemo DA, Owalabi SA, Fasai MK, Johnson-Fatokun FO (2002) Characterisation of heavy metal pollutants of soils and sediments around a crude- oil production terminal using EDXRF. Nucl Instr Methods Phys B 194:61–64
Omar A, Al-Khashman (2004) Heavy metal distribution in dust, street dust and soils from the work place in Karak Industrial Estate, Jordan. Atmos Pollut 38:6803–6812
Reimann C, Siewers U, Tarvainen T, Bityukona L, Eriksson J, Gilucis A (2000) Baltic Soil survey: total concentrations of major and selected elements in arable soils from 10 countries artound the Baltic sea. Sci Total Environ 257:155–170
Reimann C, de Caritat P (2000) Intrinsic flaws of element enrichment factors (EF’s) in environmental geochemistry. Environ Sci Technol 34:5084–5091
Saur E, Juste C (1994) Enrichment of trace elements from long-range aerosol transport in sandy podozolic soils of southwest France. Water Air Soil Pollut 73:235–246
Sutherland RA (2000) Bed sediment-associated trace metals in an urban stream, Oahu, Hawaii. Environ Geol 39:611–627
Taylor SR, Mclennan SM (1995) The geochemical evolution of the continental crust. Rev Geophys 33:241–265
Thuj HTT, Tobschall HJ (2000) An PV. Distribution of heavy metals in urban soils—a case study of Danang-Hoian Area (Vietnam). Environ Geol 39:603–610
Wilson Bob, Brennan Lang, Brian Pyatt F (2005) The dispersion of heavy metals in the vicinity of Britannia Mine, British Columbia, Canada. Ecotoxicol Environ Saf 60(3):269–276
Zhou H-y, Xiao-tong P, Jian-ming P (2004) Distribution, source and enrichments of chemical elements in sediments of the Pearl River estuary, China. Continental Shelf Res 24:1857–1875
Acknowledgments
The authors are thankful to Dr. V. P. Dimri, Director, National Geophysical Research Institute, Hyderabad, for his support and permission to publish this paper. Thanks are due to Mr. B. V. Ramana for assisting in sampling during fieldwork. Thanks are also due to the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India, New Delhi, for partially funding this work.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Krishna, A.K., Govil, P.K. Assessment of heavy metal contamination in soils around Manali industrial area, Chennai, Southern India. Environ Geol 54, 1465–1472 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00254-007-0927-z
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00254-007-0927-z