Toxic metal pollution and ecological risk assessment in water and sediment at ship breaking sites in the Bay of Bengal Coast, Bangladesh

Mir Mohammad Ali; Md Saiful Islam; Abu Reza Md Towfiqul Islam; Md Simul Bhuyan; A S Shafiuddin Ahmed; Md Zillur Rahman; Md Mostafizur Rahman

doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2021.113274

Toxic metal pollution and ecological risk assessment in water and sediment at ship breaking sites in the Bay of Bengal Coast, Bangladesh

Mar Pollut Bull. 2022 Feb:175:113274. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2021.113274. Epub 2022 Jan 20.

Authors

Mir Mohammad Ali¹, Md Saiful Islam², Abu Reza Md Towfiqul Islam³, Md Simul Bhuyan⁴, A S Shafiuddin Ahmed⁵, Md Zillur Rahman⁶, Md Mostafizur Rahman⁷

Affiliations

¹ Department of Aquaculture, Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka 1207, Bangladesh.
² Department of Soil Science, Patuakhali Science and Technology University, Patuakhali 8602, Bangladesh; Environmental Assessment and Technology for Hazardous Waste Management Research Center, Faculty of Environmental Management, Prince of Songkla University, Songkhla 90112, Thailand.
³ Department of Disaster Management, Begum Rokeya University, Rangpur 5400, Bangladesh.
⁴ Institute of Marine Sciences, Faculty of Marine Sciences & Fisheries, University of Chittagong, Chittagong 4331, Bangladesh.
⁵ Department of Fisheries and Marine Science, Noakhali Science and Technology University, Bangladesh.
⁶ Quality Control Laboratory, Department of Fisheries, Khulna 9000, Bangladesh.
⁷ Department of Environmental Sciences, Jahangirnagar University, Dhaka 1342, Bangladesh. Electronic address: rahmanmm@juniv.edu.

PMID: 35066413
DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2021.113274

Abstract

Quantification of four toxic metals (As, Cr, Cd, and Pb) in water and sediments at the Sitakunda ship breaking area in Bangladesh was studied. Along with this, sediment quality and ecological risk were evaluated for the metal intrusion to the study area. A total sample number of 120 (water; n = 60 and sediment; n = 60) were analyzed for both winter and summer seasons using atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AAS). The trace metal concentration in both water and sediment showed decreasing trend as follows; Cr (mean-W: 0.118 mg/L; mean-S:121.87 mg/kg) > Pb (mean-W: 0.064 mg/L; mean-S: 65.31 mg/kg) > As (mean-W: 0.03 mg/L; mean-S: 32.53 mg/kg) > Cd (mean-W: 0.004 mg/L; mean-S: 4.81 mg/kg). However, in both segments, the concentrations of the toxic metals exceeded the recommended acceptable limits. As and Cd showed significant variation (water and sediment) between the seasons, while Pb and Cr had no seasonal impact. Metal pollution index (MPI) and contamination factor (CF) was evaluated and revealed that the study area exhibited the critical score of water quality (MPI > 100). The cumulative effect of the metal concentrations was high (CI > 3). The assessed mean geoaccumulaiton index (I_geo) revealed that the study area was moderate to strongly polluted except for Cr. According to the contamination factor (CF), the sediment samples were moderate to highly contaminated by Cd, Pb, and As. Moreover, the explored range of pollution load index (PLI) in all sampling sites in the ship breaking region was from 1.75 to 3.10, suggesting that the sediment in the study area was highly polluted by heavy metals (PLI > 1). The risk index and the potential ecological risk index (PERI) suggested that the study area was at high risk due to metals pollution. Therefore, it is obligatory to maintain some crucial efforts for the betterment of the surrounding environment near the investigated sites.

Keywords: Ecological risk; Geochemical indices; Heavy metals; Shipbreaking yard; Water, Sediment.

MeSH terms

Bangladesh
Bays
Environmental Monitoring
Geologic Sediments
Metals, Heavy* / analysis
Risk Assessment
Ships
Water Pollutants, Chemical* / analysis
Water Quality

Substances

Metals, Heavy
Water Pollutants, Chemical