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Contamination and mobilization of arsenic in the soil and groundwater and its influence on the irrigated crops, Manipur Valley, India

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Abstract

The arsenic concentration in groundwater used for irrigating the rice crops varies from 10 to 475 ppb. The Disang shales, deposited under marine environment, appear to be the main source of arsenic contaminating the groundwater. The arsenic content in the rice roots vary from 32 to 52 ppm while the arsenic in the grains is far above the limit prescribed by WHO. Sequential extraction process results indicate that a large part of arsenic is present in the residual phases. High concentration of arsenic at root depth is present in crystalline Fe-oxides and is available for the rice plants. Sequential extraction experiment on soils indicate low arsenic content in organic matter compared to the above phases.

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Acknowledgments

This work is a part of Ph.D. thesis of Chandrashekhar A.K. The authors thank the Director for facilitating this work. Thanks are due to Ms. Trupti G. and Mr. H.K. Singh for extending their support during the course of this work. The authors also gratefully thank Dr. Bhubonchandra, Assistant Medical Director, RIMS, Imphal, for providing the local help, Dr. Y. Raghumani Asst. Prof. at Dept. of Manipur University and Mr. Holland Singh who accompanied to carry out the field work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai, 400076, India

    A. K. Chandrashekhar & D. Chandrasekharam

  2. School of Earth, Ocean and Climate Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Bhubaneswar, Bhubaneswar, 751013, India

    S. H. Farooq

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  1. A. K. Chandrashekhar
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  2. D. Chandrasekharam
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  3. S. H. Farooq
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Correspondence to D. Chandrasekharam.

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Chandrashekhar, A.K., Chandrasekharam, D. & Farooq, S.H. Contamination and mobilization of arsenic in the soil and groundwater and its influence on the irrigated crops, Manipur Valley, India. Environ Earth Sci 75, 142 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-015-5008-0

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