Baseline study of heavy metal contamination in the Sangu River estuary, Chattogram, Bangladesh

Mohammad Belal Hossain; Trisha Biswas Shanta; A S Shafiuddin Ahmed; Md Kamal Hossain; Sanjida Afrin Semme

doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2019.01.058

Baseline study of heavy metal contamination in the Sangu River estuary, Chattogram, Bangladesh

Mar Pollut Bull. 2019 Mar:140:255-261. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2019.01.058. Epub 2019 Jan 30.

Authors

Mohammad Belal Hossain¹, Trisha Biswas Shanta², A S Shafiuddin Ahmed², Md Kamal Hossain³, Sanjida Afrin Semme²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Fisheries and Marine Science, Noakhali Science and Technology University, Noakhali, Bangladesh. Electronic address: mbhnstu@gmail.com.
² Department of Fisheries and Marine Science, Noakhali Science and Technology University, Noakhali, Bangladesh.
³ Soil and Environment Laboratories, Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (BCSIR), Dhaka, Bangladesh.

PMID: 30803641
DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2019.01.058

Abstract

Sediment samples were collected from twelve selected sites of the Sangu River estuary and seven metals (As, Cr, Cu, Cd, Pb, Ni, Zn) were analyzed with Inductively Coupled Plasma-mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) to assess the contamination degree of heavy metals in the Sangu River estuary and to represent it as a reference site. This study revealed the descending order of studied metals (mg/kg) observed in sediment as Zn (88.97 ± 58.97) > Ni (32.75 ± 16.09) > Cu (29.2 ± 10.78) > Cr (25.14 ± 5.20) > Pb (19.57 ± 7.01) > As (2.58 ± 2.55). Cadmium was observed below the detection level. Various indices like geo-accumulation index (I_geo), contamination factor (CF), pollution load index (PLI) suggested that the Sangu River estuary is not contaminated by studied metals excepting Pb. PCA and correlation matrix analysis indicates that Pb and Zn may have anthropogenic sources and As, Ni, Zn, Cu, Cr may come from natural sources.

Keywords: Bangladesh; Contamination; Heavy metals; Reference site; Sangu Estuary.

MeSH terms

Bangladesh
Environmental Monitoring / methods
Estuaries*
Geologic Sediments / chemistry*
Metals, Heavy / analysis*
Risk Assessment
Rivers / chemistry*
Water Pollutants, Chemical / analysis*

Substances

Metals, Heavy
Water Pollutants, Chemical