Abstract
The combined studies on grain size distribution, organic matter contents of sediments, sequential extraction and bulk concentration of heavy metals, statistical analysis, and ecological risk assessments were carried out to investigate the contamination sources and ecological risks of surface sediments at Coleroon River Estuary in Tamil Nadu, India. The sequential extraction of metals showed that a larger portion of the metals was associated with the residual phase and also in other fractions. The low concentrations of heavy metals were found in exchangeable and carbonate bounds (bioavailable phases). It revealed that sediments of Coleroon River Estuary were relatively unpolluted and were influenced mainly by natural sources. The observed order of bulk concentrations of heavy metals in the sediments was as follows: Fe > Mn > Zn > Cu > Pb > Cr > Ni > Co. Factor analyses represented that the enrichment of heavy metals was mostly resulted from lithogenic origins associated with anthropogenic sources. These sources were reconfirmed by cluster analysis. Risk assessment code (RAC) suggested that all metals were not harmful in monsoon season. However, Fe was in medium risk, and Mn and Cu were in low risk in summer. According to pollution load index (PLI) of sediments, all heavy metals were toxic. Cu might be related with adverse biological effects on the basis of sediment quality guidelines (SQG) in both seasons. These integrated approaches were very useful to identify the contamination sources and ecological risks of sediments in estuarine environment. It is expected that this research can give a useful information for the remediation of heavy metals in sediments.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Adediran, S., & Kramer, J. R. (1987). Copper adsorption on clay, iron-manganese oxide and organic fraction along a salinity gradient. Applied Geochemistry, 2, 213–216.
Anithamary, I., Ramkumar, T., & Venkatramanan, S. (2012). Distribution and accumulation of metals in the surface sediments of Coleroon River Estuary, east coast of India. Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, 88, 413–417.
Anithamary, I., Ramkumar, T., Venkatramanan, S., & Vasudevan, S. (2013). Assessment of heavy metal concentrations in surface sediments of Coleroon Estuary of Tamil Nadu, east coast of India. Carpathian Journal of Earth and Environmental Sciences, 8, 39–46.
Arakel, A. V., & Hongjan, T. (1992). Heavy metal geochemistry and dispersion pattern in coastal sediments, soils and water of Kedron Brook flood plain area, Brisbane, Australia. Environmental Geology and Water Sciences, 20, 219–231.
Barona, A., & Romero, F. (1997). Relationships among metals in the solid phase of soils and in wild plants. Water, Air, and Soil Pollution, 95, 59–74.
Bendell-Young, L. I., & Harvey, H. H. (1992). The relative importance of manganese and iron oxides and organic matter in the sorption of trace metals by surficial lake sediments. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 56, 1175–1186.
Dessai, V. G. D., & Nayak, G. N. (2009). Distribution and speciation of selected metals in surface sediments, from the tropical Zuari Estuary, central west coast of India. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 158, 117–137.
Dhanakumar, S., Rutharvel Murthy, K., Solaraj, G., & Mohanraj, R. (2013). Heavy metal fractionation in surface sediments of the Cauvery River Estuarine Region, southeastern coast of India. Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, 65, 14–23.
Evans, D. W., Cutshall, N. H., Cross, F. A., & Wolfe, D. A. (1977). Manganese cycling in the Newport River Estuary, North Carolina. Estuarine and Coastal Marine Science, 5, 71–80.
Fang, T. H., Li, J. Y., Feng, H. M., & Chen, H. Y. (2009). Distribution and contamination of trace metals in surface sediments of the East China Sea. Marine Environmental Research, 68, 178–187.
Fishmen, M. & Friedman, L. (1985). Methods for determination of inorganic substances in water and fluvial sediments: U.S. Geological Survey, open file report, 585–244.
Flemming, B. W. (2000). A revised textural classification of gravel-free muddy sediments on the basis of ternary diagrams. Continental Shelf Research, 20, 1125–1137.
Forstner, U. (1977). Interactions between sediment sand freshwater. In H. L. Golterman (Ed.), Metal concentrations in fresh water sediments—natural background and cultural effects (pp. 94–103). The Hague, Washington: Junk.
Forstner, U., Calmano, W., & Schoer, J. (1982). Metals in sediments from the Elbe, Weser and Ems estuaries and from the German Bight: grain size effects and chemical forms. Thalassia Jugoslavica, 18, 97–122.
Gumgum, B., & Ozturk, G. (2001). Chemical speciation of heavy metals in the Tigris river sediments. Chemical Speciation and Bioavailability, 13, 25–29.
Ip, C. C. M., Li, X. D., Zhang, G., Wai, O. W. H., & Li, Y. S. (2007). Trace metal distribution in sediments of the Pearl River Estuary and the surrounding coastal area, South China. Environmental Pollution, 147, 311–323.
Jackson, J. E. (1991). A user’s guide to principal components. NewYork:Wiley.
Johannesson, L. T., Stevens, R. L., & Alexanderson, J. H. (2000). Sediment character in micro tidal, harbor-estuary environment, Goteborg, Sweden. Estuaries, 23, 400–410.
John O’Malley. (2007). U.S. Geological Survey arc map sediment classification tool: installation and user guide, open file report 1–33.
Kaushik, A., Kansal, A., Santosh, M., Shiv, K., & Kaushik, C. P. (2009). Heavy metal concentration of river Yamuna, Haryana, India: assessment by metal enrichment factor of the sediment. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 164, 265–270.
Lakkas, T. (1985). In Heavy metals in the environment (vol. 2, ). Edinburgh: CEP Consultants.
Li, Y., Yu, Z., Song, X., & Mu, Q. (2006). Trace metal concentrations in suspended particles, sediments and clams from Jiaozhou Bay of China. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 121, 491–501.
Liu, B., Hu, K., Jiang, Z., Yang, J., Luo, X., & Liu, A. (2011). Distribution and enrichment of heavy metals in a sediment core from the Pearl River Estuary. Environmental Earth Sciences, 62, 265–275.
Liu, Z., Tuo, S., Colin, C., Liu, J. T., Huang, C. Y., Selvaraj, K., Chen, C. T. A., Zhao, Y., Siringan, F. P., Boulay, S., & Chen, C. (2008). Detrital fine-grained sediment contribution from Taiwan to the northern South China Sea and its relation to regional ocean circulation. Marine Geology, 255, 149–155.
Long, E. R., MacDonald, D. D., Smith, S. L., & Calder, F. D. (1995). Incidence of adverse biological effects within ranges of chemical concentrations in marine and estuarine sediments. Environmental Management, 19, 81–97.
Macdonald, D. D., Scottcarr, R., Calder, F. D., Long, E. R., & Ingersoll, C. G. (1996). Development and evaluation of sediment quality guidelines for Florida coastal waters. Ecotoxicology, 5, 253–278.
Martin, J. M., & Meybeck, M. (1979). Elemental mass—balance of material carried by major world rivers. Marine Chemistry, 7, 173–206.
Massart, D. L., & Kaufman, L. (1983). The interpretation of analytical chemical data by the use of cluster analysis. New York:John Wiley.
Mathis, B. J., & Cummings, T. F. (1973). Selected metals in sediments and biota in Illinois River. Journal of the Water Pollution Control Federation, 45, 1573–1583.
McBride, M. B. (1994). Environmental chemistry of soils (p. 406). New York:Oxford Univ. Press.
Morris, A. W., Allen, J. I., Howland, R. J. M., & Wood, R. G. (1995). The estuary plume zone: source or sink for land-derived nutrient discharges? Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 40, 387–402.
Mossop, K. F., & Davidson, C. M. (2003). Comparison of original and modified BCR sequential extraction procedures for the fractionation of copper, iron, lead, manganese and zinc in soils and sediments. Analytica Chimica Acta, 478, 111–118.
NYSDEC. (1999). (New York State Department of Environmental Conservation), Technical Guidance for Screening Contaminated Sediments, Division of Fish, Wildlife and Marine Resources, NYSDEC, p.45.
Panda, U. C., Sahu, K. C., Mohapatra, D. M., & Das, C. R. (1999). Bulk and partition analysis of heavy metals in sediments of Bahuda Estuary, east coast of India. Indian Journal of Marine Science, 28, 102–105.
Pardo, R., Barrado, E., Perez, L., & Vega, M. (1990). Determination and speciation of heavy metal in sediments of the Pisuerga River. Water Research, 24, 337–343.
Pederson, T. F., & Price, N. B. (1982). The geochemistry of manganese carbonate in Panama Basin sediments. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 46, 59–68.
Rankama, K., & Sahama, T. H. G. (1964). Geochemistry. Chicago:The University of Chicago Press.
Rath, P., Panda, U. C., Bhatta, D., & Sahu, K. C. (2009). Use of sequential leaching, mineralogy, morphology and multivariate statistical technique for quantifying metal pollution in highly polluted aquatic sediments—a case study: Brahamani and Nandira rivers, India. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 163, 632–644.
Reddy, M. M. (1978). Sediment nutrient and metal water and water column heavy metal characterization in the Genesse river, part of Genesse river pilot watershed study for PLUARGTASK-C, final report, New York State, Department of Environmental Conservation, Alabany, New York and International Joint Commission for Great Lakes, Windsor, Ont., Canada.
Rowlatt, S. M., & Lovell, D. R. (1994). Lead, zinc and chromium in sediments around England and Wales. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 28, 324–329.
Sahu, K. C., & Mukherjee, P. K. (1983). Monitoring of water and sediments of Ulhas River, Northeast Mumbai. Mahasagar, 16, 135–142.
Sahu, K. C., Panda, U. C., & Mohapatra, D. M. (1998). Geochemistry and mineralogy of sediments in Rushikulya Estuary, east coast of India. Chemical Environmental Research, 7, 77–92.
Saikia, D. K. (1987). Studies on the sorption of bed sediments of river Ganges, transport of some heavy metal ions, Ph.D. Thesis, University of Roorkee, India.
Schoer, J. U., Hong, Y. T., & Forstner, U. (1983). Variation of chemical forms of Fe, Mn, and Zn in suspended sediments from Elbe and Weser rivers during estuarine mixing. Environmental Technology Letters, 4, 277–282.
Shrivastava, S. K., & Banerjee, D. K. (2004). Speciation of metals in sewage sludge and sludge-amended soils. Water, Air, and Soil Pollution, 152, 219–232.
Singh, N. K., Pandey, G. C., Rai, U. N., Tripathi, R. D., Singh, H. B., & Gupta, D. K. (2005). Metal accumulation and eco-physiological effects of distillery effluent on Potamogeton pectinatus L. Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, 74, 857–863.
Subramanian, V. (1987). Environmental geochemistry of Indian river basins—a review. Journal of the Geological Society of India, 29, 205–220.
Subramanian, V., Van’t Dack, L., & Van Grieken, R. (1985). Chemical composition of river sediments from the Indian sub-continent. Chemical Geology, 48, 271–279.
Sundaray, S. K., Nayak, B. B., Lin, S., & Bhatta, D. (2011). Geochemical speciation and risk assessment of heavy metals in the river estuarine sediments—a case study: Mahanadi basin, India. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 186, 1837–1846.
Tesi, T., Miserocchi, S., Goni, M. A., Langone, L., Boldrin, A., & Turchetto, M. (2007). Organic matter origin and distribution in suspended particulate materials and surficial sediments from the western Adriatic Sea (Italy). Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 73, 431–446.
Tessier, A., Campbell, P. G. C., & Bisson, M. (1979). Sequential extraction procedure for the speciation of particulate trace metals. Analytical Chemistry, 51, 844–851.
Tomlinson, D. L., Wilson, J. G., Harris, C. R., & Jeffrey, D. W. (1980). Problems in the assessment of heavy metal levels in estuaries and the formation of a pollution index. Helgoländer Meeresuntersuchungen, 33, 566–575.
USEPA. (2006). Sediment quality guidelines, US Environment Protection Agency, Washington, DC, Available online at http://www.epa.gov/waterscience/cs/guidlines.htm. Accessed 16 Oct 2014.
Vaithiyanathan, P., Ramanathan, A. L., & Subramanian, V. (1993). Transport and distribution of heavy metals in Cauvery River. Water, Air, and Soil Pollution, 71, 13–22.
Venkatramanan, S., Ramkumar, T., Anithamary, I., & Ramesh, G. (2011). Variations in texture of beach sediments in the vicinity of the Tirumalairajanar River mouth of India. International Journal of Sediment Research, 26, 460–470.
Venkatramanan, S., Ramkumar, T., Anithamary, I., & Jonathan, M. (2013). Speciation of selected heavy metals geochemistry in surface sediments from Tirumalairajan River Estuary, east coast of India. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 185, 6563–6578.
Venkatramanan, S., Ramkumar, T., Anithamary, I., & Vasudevan, S. (2014a). Heavy metal distribution in surface sediments of the Tirumalairajan River Estuary and the surrounding coastal area, east coast of India. Arabian Journal of Geosciences, 7, 123–130.
Venkatramanan, S., Chung, S. Y., Ramkumar, T., & Vasudevan, S. (2014b). A study on seasonal accumulation of metals in Tirumalairajan River Estuary and adjacent coastal track, Tamil Nadu, east coast of India. Indian Journal of Geo-Marine Science, 43, 841–847.
Venkatramanan, S., Chung, S. Y., Ramkumar, T., & Park, N. (2014c). Grain size trend and hydrodynamic condition of Tirumalairajan River Estuary, east coast of India. Oceanology, 54, 532–540.
Venkatramanan, S., Chung, S. Y., & Ramkumar, T. (2014d). Sediment transport patterns, hydrodynamic conditions and clay mineral distributions at Coleroon River Estuary, east coast of India. Disaster Advances, 7, 67–76.
Venkatramanan, S., Chung, S. Y., Ramkumar, T., Gnanachandrasamy, G., & Kim, T. H. (2015). Evaluation of geochemical behavior and heavy metal distribution of sediments: the case study of the Tirumalairajan River Estuary, southeast coast of India. International Journal of Sediment Research, 30, 28–38.
Wadia, D. N. (1975). Geology of India (p. 531). Delhi:McGraw Hill.
Wang, S., Jia, Y., Wang, S., Wang, X., Wang, H., Zhao, Z., & Liu, B. (2010). Fractionation of heavy metals in shallow marine sediments from Jinzhou Bay, China. Journal of Environmental Sciences, 22, 23–31.
Yu, K. C., Tsai, L. J., Chen, S. H., & Ho, S. T. (2001). Correlation analyses binding behavior of heavy metals with sediment matrices. Water Research, 35, 2417–2428.
Zhang, J., Huang, W. W., & Martin, J. M. (1998). Trace metal distribution in Huanghe (Yellow River) Estuary. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 26, 499–516.
Zhang, J., Li, Z. H., Chen, J., Wang, M., Tao, R., & Liu, D. (2014). Assessment of heavy metal contamination status in sediments and identification of pollution source in Daye Lake, Central China. Environmental Earth Sciences. doi:10.1007/s12665-014-3047-6.
Zulkifli, S. Z., Mohamat-Yusuff, F., Arai, T., Ismail, A., & Miyazaki, N. (2010). An assessment of selected trace elements in intertidal surface sediments collected from the Peninsular Malaysia. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 169, 457–472.
Acknowledgments
The authors would also like to thank the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Madras, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, for the results generated by the ICP-OES. This research was supported by a grant (code 15AWMP-B066761-03) from AWMP Program funded by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport of the Korean Government.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Venkatramanan, S., Chung, S.Y., Ramkumar, T. et al. Environmental monitoring and assessment of heavy metals in surface sediments at Coleroon River Estuary in Tamil Nadu, India. Environ Monit Assess 187, 505 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-015-4709-x
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-015-4709-x