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Non-invasive biomonitoring of mercury in birds near thermal power plants: lessons from Maharashtra, India

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Abstract

Thermal power plants (TPPs) have emerged as a major source of air, water, and soil pollution because of the presence of many toxic metals. The presence of mercury (Hg) in fly ash has proven to be toxic in nature because of its tendency to get bioaccumulated and biomagnified in the food chain. The aim of the present study was to understand the presence of toxic Hg in the feathers of wetland birds undertaking the study around a TPP located in Nagpur, India. Local wetland birds especially cattle egrets, heron, and Moorhen were commonly observed dwelling close to fly ash ponds for various purposes (roosting, breeding, feeding, etc.). Samples of fly ash, soil, water, plants, and bird feather were collected, cleaned, and processed for Hg analysis. A mercury analyzer was used to assess the concentration of toxic levels of Hg in samples. Our results reflect leaching of Hg in soil and uptake by plant samples, whereas in water, ash, and bird feather samples concentrations of Hg were fairly below the prescribed limits (World Health Organization). A non-invasive method for understanding the mercury concentration in wetland birds has been established as a potential important monitoring tool to track the fate of toxic metal Hg in the food chain. In summary, our results indicate fairly low Hg levels in feather samples projecting non-invasive biomonitoring as a promising strategy. The study also suggests that a comprehensive monitoring action plan in place for Hg and other toxic metals in the food chain that comes from TPP will be efficient to avoid any pitfalls.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank two anonymous reviewers who have helped in improving the manuscript substantially. Knowledge Resource Centre (CSIR-NEERI) is acknowledged for approving the manuscript under the number CSIR-NEERI/KRC/2019/OCT/WTMD-AID/1 for plagiarism check.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Environment & Sustainable Development, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, 221005, India

    Sunidhi Thakur & Krishna Kumar Pandey

  2. National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (CSIR-NEERI), Nehru Marg, Nagpur, Maharashtra, 440020, India

    Shalini Dhyani, Kavita Bramhanwade, Naresh Bokade & Paras Pujari

  3. Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, 201002, India

    Ramesh Janipella

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  3. Kavita Bramhanwade
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  4. Krishna Kumar Pandey
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Correspondence to Shalini Dhyani.

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Appendices

Appendix 1

Table 1 List of some avifaunal species in and around Koradi Lake
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Appendix 2

Fig. 9
figure 9

Bird feather samples collected from study area

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Thakur, S., Dhyani, S., Bramhanwade, K. et al. Non-invasive biomonitoring of mercury in birds near thermal power plants: lessons from Maharashtra, India. Environ Monit Assess 192, 260 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-020-8215-4

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