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Heavy metal contamination along different tidal zones of a tropical Bay of Bengal coastal environment influenced by various anthropogenic activities

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Abstract

The spatiotemporal variations of five heavy metals (Cd, Cu, Cr, Pb, and Zn) in the beach sediments along the Tamil Nadu coast sourced from various anthropogenic activities were assessed using atomic absorption spectrophotometry (AAS). Various pollution monitoring indices were computed to clearly understand the metal pollution status along the Tamil Nadu coastline. The metal concentrations in sediments were typically higher in the summer season than in the monsoon season. In the monsoon season, metal concentration followed a decreasing order of Zn > Cr > Cu > Pb > Cd, and in the summer season, the order was Cr > Zn > Cu > Pb > Cd. During the monsoon season, freshwater runoff from the rainfall dilutes the sediments and their trace element load. However, due to a lack of freshwater influx during the summer season, the heavy metals in the sediments get concentrated and showed elevated levels. Geo-accumulation index, ecological risk index, pollution load index, and contamination degree clearly depict that Cd and Pb have higher accumulation and pose greater hazard when compared with other metals. The rivers flowing in the region also transport the heavy metals from the mainland to the estuaries and coastal environments. Metal levels along the Tamil Nadu coast are influenced by various anthropogenic activities persistent along the coastline. Some of the activities that cause metal contamination are mining, milling, electroplating, furnishing, pharmaceutical industries, fishing, harbor activities, urban runoff, and agricultural runoff, which release a variety of toxic metals into the coastal environment.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to the Department of Marine Science, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli, India, for facilitating the research work. The authors express their deep gratitude to the Ministry of Earth Science, Government of India (Ref. No.: MoES/36/OOIS/Extra./9/2013) for providing the AAS facility. The authors would also like to extend their sincere appreciation to the Researchers Supporting Project Number (RSP-2022R410), King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Funding

The funding was supported by Researchers Supporting Project Number (RSP2022R410), King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. DNA Barcoding and Marine Genomics Laboratory, Department of Marine Science, Bharathidasan University, Tamil Nadu, Tiruchirappalli, India, 620 024

    Athira Pulickal Santhosh, Anisha Pyary, Anagha Biju, Emmanuel Charles Partheeban, Jebashalomi Vethanayaham & Rajaram Rajendran

  2. Department of Zoology, College of Science, King Saud University, PO Box 2455, Riyadh, 11451, Saudi Arabia

    Mohammad Khalid Al-Sadoon

  3. Department of Biotechnology, Yeungnam University, 280 Daehak-Ro, Gyeongsan, Gyeongbuk, 38641, Republic of Korea

    Aneela Gulnaz

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  1. Athira Pulickal Santhosh
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  2. Anisha Pyary
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  3. Anagha Biju
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  4. Emmanuel Charles Partheeban
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  5. Jebashalomi Vethanayaham
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  7. Mohammad Khalid Al-Sadoon
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Contributions

A.PS, A.P, MK.A, and R.R conceived and designed the experiments. A.PS, A.P, A.B, and J.V collected the samples. Sample preparation and AAS analyses were performed by A.PS, A.P, A.B, and EC.P. Maps and graphs were generated by EC.P and A.PS. Data were analyzed by A.PS, MK.A, A.G, and R.R. A.PS and R.R wrote the paper. R.R, A.G, and EC.P performed language editing.

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Correspondence to Rajaram Rajendran.

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Santhosh, A.P., Pyary, A., Biju, A. et al. Heavy metal contamination along different tidal zones of a tropical Bay of Bengal coastal environment influenced by various anthropogenic activities. Environ Sci Pollut Res 30, 27980–27995 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-24112-3

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