Skip to main content
Log in

Occurrences of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon from Adayar and Cooum Riverine Sediment in Chennai city, India

International Journal of Environmental Science and Technology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In Chennai city, India, the industrial outfalls, port activities and anthropogenic activities dump a significant amount of waste in the riverine belts of two major rivers, viz. Cooum and Adayar. Hence, this paper aims to study the occurrences and sources of 16 priority polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) enlisted in United States Environmental protection Agency. Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry analysis showed that total PAHs in surface riverine sediment ranged from 136 to 2063 ng/g (Average ± SD, 654 ± 801 ng/g dw) for Cooum and 105–1710 ng/g (Average ± SD, 380 ± 593 ng/g) for Adayar. Generally, high molecular weight PAHs were higher than low molecular weight PAHs. A prevalence of high molecular weight carcinogenic PAHs was suspected due to incomplete combustion. Principal component analysis and diagnostic ratios revealed that emission sources were from pyrogenic (vehicular emissions), as well as significant contribution was from petrogenic inputs. Principal component analysis also revealed that for both riverine sediments in PC1 65% of high molecular weight compounds were from informal e-waste recycling area and industrial corridor possibly associated with industrial effluents and recycling activities. The ecological risk assessment using probable effect level estimation suggested that PAHs are likely to cause no adverse effect or slightly adverse in all the sites of Cooum and Adayar excluding in residential sites (CR-03, AD-02) and e-waste site (CR-16) which were under heavy and moderate ecological impact. Further toxic equivalent factor also showed that residential site (AD-02) was affected by moderate level loading of benzo[a]pyrene.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Agarwal T, Khillare P, Shridhar V (2006) PAHs contamination in bank sediment of the Yamuna River, Delhi, India. Environ Monit Assess 123:151–166

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Agarwal T, Khillare P, Shridhar V, Ray S (2009) Pattern, sources and toxic potential of PAHs in the agricultural soils of Delhi, India. J Hazard Mater 163:1033–1039

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bai YJ, Li XQ, Liu WX, Tao S, Wang LG, Wang JF (2008) Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) concentrations in the dissolved, particulate, and sediment phases in the Luan River watershed. China J Environ Sci Health Part A 43:365–374

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bortey-Sam N et al (2014) Occurrence, distribution, sources and toxic potential of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in surface soils from the Kumasi Metropolis, Ghana. Sci Tot Environ 496:471–478

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cai Q-Y, Mo C-H, Li Y-H, Zeng Q-Y, Katsoyiannis A, Wu Q-T, Férard J-F (2007a) Occurrence and assessment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in soils from vegetable fields of the Pearl River Delta, South China. Chemosphere 68:159–168

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cai Q-Y, Mo C-H, Wu Q-T, Zeng Q-Y, Katsoyiannis A (2007b) Occurrence of organic contaminants in sewage sludges from eleven wastewater treatment plants, China. Chemosphere 68:1751–1762

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Chakraborty P, Sampath S, Mukhopadhyay M, Selvraj S, Bharat GK, Nizzetto L (2018) Phthalic acid esters, bisphenol A, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and heavy metals in the surface soil of the informal electronic waste recycling workshops and nearby open dumpsites of Indian cities. ​Environ Pollut. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2018.11.010

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen B et al (2004) Distributions of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in surface waters, sediments and soils of Hangzhou City, China. Water Research 38:3558–3568

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Chen H-Y, Teng Y-G, Wang J-S (2012) Source apportionment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in surface sediments of the Rizhao coastal area (China) using diagnostic ratios and factor analysis with nonnegative constraints. Sci Total Environ 414:293–300

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Chen C-F, Chen C-W, Dong C-D, Kao C-M (2013) Assessment of toxicity of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in sediments of Kaohsiung Harbor, Taiwan. Sci Tot Environ 463:1174–1181

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cheng H et al (2013) A comparison study of atmospheric polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in three Indian cities using PUF disk passive air samplers. Atmos Environ 73:16–21

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Crnković DM, Crnković NS, Filipović AJ, Rajaković LV, Perić-Grujić AA Jr, Ristić MĐ (2008) Danube and Sava river sediment monitoring in Belgrade and its surroundings. J Environ Sci Health Part A 43:1353–1360

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Devi NL, Yadav IC, Shihua Q, Dan Y, Zhang G, Raha P (2016) Environmental carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in soil from Himalayas, India: implications for spatial distribution, sources apportionment and risk assessment. Chemosphere 144:493–502

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dhananjayan V, Muralidharan S, Peter VR (2012) Occurrence and distribution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in water and sediment collected along the Harbour Line, Mumbai, India. Int J Oceanogr. https://doi.org/10.1155/2012/403615

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Domínguez C et al (2010) Quantification and source identification of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in core sediments from Sundarban Mangrove Wetland, India. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol 59:49–61

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Doong R-A, Lin Y-T (2004) Characterization and distribution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon contaminations in surface sediment and water from Gao-ping River, Taiwan. Water Res 38:1733–1744

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Froehner S, Dombroski L, Machado K, Fernandes CS, Bessa M (2012) Estimation of bioavailability of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in river sediments. Int J Environ Sci Technol 9:409–416

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Giridhar V (2001) Coastal ocean pollution monitoring program. In: Proceedings of the UGC course on Marine sciences and environment conducted by the Department of Applied Geology, University of Madras, Chennai, India

  • Goswami P, Ohura T, Guruge KS, Yoshioka M, Yamanaka N, Akiba M, Munuswamy N (2016) Spatio-temporal distribution, source, and genotoxic potential of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in estuarine and riverine sediments from southern India. Ecotoxicol Environ Saf 130:113–123

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Guo W, He M, Yang Z, Lin C, Quan X, Wang H (2007) Distribution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in water, suspended particulate matter and sediment from Daliao River watershed, China. Chemosphere 68:93–104

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hale SE et al (2012) Quantifying the total and bioavailable polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and dioxins in biochars. Environ Sci Technol 46:2830–2838

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hartmann PC, Quinn JG, Cairns RW, King JW (2004) The distribution and sources of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in Narragansett Bay surface sediments. Mar Pollut Bull 48:351–358

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hong W-J, Jia H, Li Y-F, Sun Y, Liu X, Wang L (2016) Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and alkylated PAHs in the coastal seawater, surface sediment and oyster from Dalian, Northeast China. Ecotoxicol Environ Saf 128:11–20

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • ICLEI (2012) Chennai transport sector is fifth largest polluter, says study. The New Indian Express (Chennai). http://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/chennai/article537602.ece

  • Khairy MA, Kolb M, Mostafa AR, Anwar E-F, Bahadir M (2009) Risk assessment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in a Mediterranean semi-enclosed basin affected by human activities (Abu Qir Bay, Egypt). J Hazard Mater 170:389–397

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Khuman SN, Chakraborty P, Cincinelli A, Snow D, Kumar B (2018) Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in surface waters and riverine sediments of the Hooghly and Brahmaputra Rivers in the Eastern and Northeastern India. Sci Tot Environ 636:751–760

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Liu Y, Chen L, Huang Q-H, Li W-Y, Tang Y-J, Zhao J-F (2009) Source apportionment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in surface sediments of the Huangpu River, Shanghai, China. Sci Tot Environ 407:2931–2938

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Liu S, Liu X, Liu M, Yang B, Cheng L, Li Y, Qadeer A (2016) Levels, sources and risk assessment of PAHs in multi-phases from urbanized river network system in Shanghai. Environ Pollut 219:555–567

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lopez AX (2011) Survey of waste tained spots along. The Hindu, Cooum

    Google Scholar 

  • Lotufo GR, Fleeger JW (1997) Effects of sediment-associated phenanthrene on survival, development and reproduction of two species of meiobenthic copepods. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 151:91–102

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Nasher E, Heng LY, Zakaria Z, Surif S (2013) Assessing the ecological risk of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in sediments at Langkawi Island, Malaysia. Sci World J 2013:13

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Oliva AL, Quintas PY, La Colla NS, Arias AH, Marcovecchio JE (2015) Distribution, sources, and potential ecotoxicological risk of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in surface sediments from Bahía Blanca Estuary, Argentina. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol 69:163–172

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pérez-Fernández B, Viñas L, Franco MÁ, Bargiela J (2015) PAHs in the Ría de Arousa (NW Spain): a consideration of PAHs sources and abundance. Mar Pollut Bull 95:155–165

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ping L, Luo Y, Zhang H, Li Q, Wu L (2007) Distribution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in thirty typical soil profiles in the Yangtze River Delta region, east China. Environ Pollut 147:358–365

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rajpara RK, Dudhagara DR, Bhatt JK, Gosai HB, Dave BP (2017) Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) at the Gulf of Kutch, Gujarat, India: occurrence, source apportionment, and toxicity of PAHs as an emerging issue. Mar Pollut Bull 119:231–238

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ramakrishnan T (2009) City awash with dreams of a clean. The Hindu, Cooum

    Google Scholar 

  • Ramzi A, Rahman KH, Gireeshkumar T, Balachandran K, Jacob C, Chandramohanakumar N (2017) Dynamics of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in surface sediments of Cochin estuary, India. Mar Pollut Bull 114:1081–1087

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Saha M et al (2009) Sources of sedimentary PAHs in tropical Asian waters: differentiation between pyrogenic and petrogenic sources by alkyl homolog abundance. Mar Pollut Bull 58:189–200

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Salehi M, Beni OH, Harchegani HB, Borujeni IE, Motaghian H (2011) Refining soil organic matter determination by loss-on-ignition. Pedosphere 21:473–482

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sampath S, Shanmugam G, Selvaraj KK, Ramaswamy BR (2015) Spatio-temporal distribution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in atmospheric air of Tamil Nadu, India and human health risk assessment. Environ Forensics 16:76–87

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sany SBT, Hashim R, Salleh A, Safari O, Mehdinia A, Rezayi M (2014) Risk assessment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the West Port semi-enclosed basin (Malaysia). Environ Earth Sci 71:4319–4332

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Shanmugam P, Neelamani S, Ahn Y-H, Philip L, Hong G-H (2007) Assessment of the levels of coastal marine pollution of Chennai city, Southern India. Water Resources Manag 21:1187–1206

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tripathi R, Kumar R, Mudiam MKR, Patel DK, Behari JR (2009) Distribution, Sources and Characterization of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in the Sediment of the River Gomti, Lucknow, India. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 83:449–454. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-009-9747-z

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wang Z, Chen J, Qiao X, Yang P, Tian F, Huang L (2007) Distribution and sources of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from urban to rural soils: a case study in Dalian, China. Chemosphere 68:965–971

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wang W et al (2010) Concentrations, sources and spatial distribution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in soils from Beijing, Tianjin and surrounding areas, North China. Environ Pollut 158:1245–1251

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wang C, Wang W, He S, Du J, Sun Z (2011) Sources and distribution of aliphatic and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in Yellow River Delta Nature Reserve, China. Appl Geochem 26:1330–1336

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wang Y et al (2012) Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in soils and vegetation near an e-waste recycling site in South China: Concentration, distribution, source, and risk assessment. Sci Tot Environ 439:187–193. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2012.08.018

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wang C et al (2015) Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in soils from urban to rural areas in Nanjing: concentration, source, spatial distribution, and potential human health risk. Sci Total Environ 527:375–383

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wu Y, Zhang J, Zhu Z (2003) Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the sediments of the Yalujiang Estuary, North China. Mar Pollut Bull 46:619–625

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Xu J, Yu Y, Wang P, Guo W, Dai S, Sun H (2007) Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the surface sediments from Yellow River, China. Chemosphere 67:1408–1414

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Yu X, Gao Y, Wu S, Zhang H, Cheung K, Wong M (2006a) Distribution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in soils at Guiyu area of China, affected by recycling of electronic waste using primitive technologies. Chemosphere 65:1500–1509

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Yu XZ, Gao Y, Wu SC, Zhang HB, Cheung KC, Wong MH (2006b) Distribution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in soils at Guiyu area of China, affected by recycling of electronic waste using primitive technologies. Chemosphere 65:1500–1509. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2006.04.006

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Yunker MB, Macdonald RW, Vingarzan R, Mitchell RH, Goyette D, Sylvestre S (2002) PAHs in the Fraser River basin: a critical appraisal of PAH ratios as indicators of PAH source and composition. Org Geochem 33:489–515

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang H, Luo Y, Wong M, Zhao Q, Zhang G (2006) Distributions and concentrations of PAHs in Hong Kong soils. Environ Pollut 141:107–114

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Ministry of Environment and Forest and Climate Change, Grant No. Q-14011/43/2013-CPW (EHC). The authors would also like to thank those graduate students of SRM University who extended their help in sample collection.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to P. Chakraborty.

Additional information

Editorial responsibility: M. Abbaspour.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary material 1 (DOC 144 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Rajan, S., Geethu, V., Sampath, S. et al. Occurrences of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon from Adayar and Cooum Riverine Sediment in Chennai city, India. Int. J. Environ. Sci. Technol. 16, 7695–7704 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-018-2125-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-018-2125-9

Keywords

Navigation