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Pollution due to Heavy Metals in Coimbatore Wetlands, India

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Author Affiliations

  • 1Centre for Climate Change and Adaptation Research, Anna University, Chennai- 600 025, INDIA
  • 2Department of Environmental Sciences, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore-641 003, INDIA
  • 3Department of Environmental Sciences, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore-641 003, INDIA

Res. J. Agriculture & Forestry Sci., Volume 3, Issue (6), Pages 1-5, June,8 (2015)

Abstract

Coimbatore is the second largest industrial city of Tamil Nadu and it is also mentioned as the Manchester of Tamil Nadu. There are plenty of wetlands available in this city and unfortunately these wetlands are now changing to waste lands because of the increasing discharge of effluents from various industries. These effluents further reduce the productivity of soil and it contaminates the natural water bodies as well as ground water. In this study the water samples were collected for heavy metals analysis by using Atomic absorption spectrophotometer. The results from the water analysis revealed that, heavy metal concentration of Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni and Pb were exceeded the permissible limit prescribed for drinking water (WHO standard) and also irrigation standard (FAO). Water samples from 12 wetlands exhibited heavy metal concentration in the following range: Cd - 0.2 to 0.7 mg L-1, Cr- 3 mg L-1 to 518 mg L-1, Cu -1.0 to 98 mg L-1, Ni - 7.0 to 33 mg L-1 and Pb - 0.9 and 3.0 mg L-1 respectively. The results evident that the relative proportion of heavy metals are in an increasing the order of Cr> Cu > Ni >Pb> Cd. This study also delineated the heavy metal contamination in the 12 wetlands of Coimbatore city using ArcGIS 9.3. Finally we conclude that the water in the wetlands is not fit for human and animal consumption.

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