Abstract
Background
The environment is always subjected to exposure from different natural and anthropogenic sources of trace elements. The excessive intake of these trace elements may become toxic and cause health disorders to the people when the concentration exceeds certain threshold limits. The measurement of trace elements concentration in general and toxic trace elements concentration in particular is important for the assessment and prediction of risk to the environment and public. Distribution of trace elements in various environmental matrices depends on the nature of the element itself and the site-specific characteristics such as type of the matrices and its physicochemical parameters. In view of these aspects, an attempt is made to assess the concentration of trace elements and pollution indices in the sediment samples collected from the coastal belt of Kerala and possible conclusions were drawn.
Results
The results of pollution indices clearly indicate the moderate level of trace elements contamination in the coastal belts of Kerala. Significant correlations were observed between the concentration of trace elements and physicochemical parameters of the sediments.
Conclusion
Most of the trace elements enrichment in the coastal belt is due the crustal materials or natural weathering process and atmospheric deposition. The investigation revealed the sources of most of the elements present in the coastal belt of Kerala are lithogenic such as weathering and atmospheric deposition.
Similar content being viewed by others
Explore related subjects
Find the latest articles, discoveries, and news in related topics.Background
In recent years, the environment is highly polluted due to the increase in the population pressure on land, industrialization, use of fertilizers and other man-made activities on the ecosystem. The trace elements discharged by various human activities will contaminate the environmental matrices such as air, water, soil, sediment, etc., and further they settle down in soil and sediment. The trace elements accumulation and enrichment in soil and sediment increase enormously when time progresses and leads to contamination of the adjacent agricultural areas, food crops, and aquatic systems.
The quality of life can only be improved by the availability of good water, soil and air from the environment. However, undesired changes in the chemical, physical, and biological characteristics of the different environmental matrices have created a tremendous threat to the people. The impacts of trace elements accumulation and enrichment have been paid more attention because of their peculiar pollutant characteristics. Trace elements supposed to be present in trace levels play an important role in the human life cycle (Santos et al. 2005). The trace elements are natural constituents of the earth’s crust, and accumulation of trace elements in different environmental matrices depends on both natural and anthropogenic factors (Parth et al. 2011).
The distribution of elements depends on the weathering of parent rocks and pedogenesis. The elements such as Mn, Cr, and Ni are constituents of some rock types of volcanic and metamorphic origin (Alloway 1995). During the weathering process, the primary crystalline structures of some rock minerals are completely broken and the relevant chemical is thus either absorbed in the topsoil or transported toward surface water or groundwater targets. The behavior of trace elements in the environment depends on the enrichment level, origin and forms, and also properties of the environmental matrix. The environment is always subjected to exposure from different anthropogenic sources of trace elements, viz. industrial waste, mining activities, smelters, foundries, combustion processes, transportation, etc. (Tokman et al. 2004).
In the current scenario, the disposal of waste generated as a result of the various human activities is a matter of serious concern. The waste management of industrial effluents and municipal wastes is highly essential for the abatement of environmental pollution (Brar et al. 2000). The migration of elemental constituents from waste disposal sites to the ecosystem is a complex process and involves various geochemical activities. The elemental constituents can bio-magnify in animals and plants eventually making their way to humans through food chain (Abrahams 2002). The frequent use of fertilizers and pesticides in agricultural lands will result in the enrichment of trace metals such as Ni, Cu, Cd, and Zn in the topsoil. A clear understanding of the migration of trace elements from soil to plants is essential for producing the impact of spreading the metal-containing waste on agricultural lands. The adverse effects of trace elements are related to the soil’s ability to absorb and retain such elements (Elliott et al. 1986). The trace elements are essential for plants at certain levels and can also be toxic at certain threshold levels (Facchinelli et al. 2001). The trace elements do not decay with time, unlike radionuclides and many organics, and hence long-term monitoring is also needed. The elements such as Cd, As, and Pb are particularly important because they are not biodegradable and can accumulate in human vital organs, producing progressive toxicity (Alam et al. 2003).
The toxic elements can reduce soil fertility and increase input to the food chain which leads to accumulation of toxic elements in food stuffs and ultimately can endanger human health. The deficiency and excess concentration of certain elements can be toxic and cause abnormalities and health disorders to the biological ecosystem. The contamination due to trace elements in the biological system is of major concern because of its toxicity and threat to the human life cycle (Purves 1985). Hence, studies on trace elements accumulation in various environmental matrices due to natural and anthropogenic sources have been carried out by several investigators around the world.
In the earlier works, Lagermerff et al. (1970), Chao (1972), Kothny (1973), Mikkelson and Brandon (1975), Ito and Iimura (1975), Kirkham (1975), Bingham et al. (1976), Jugsujinda and Patrick (1977), Reddy and Patrick (1977), Colbourn and Thornton (1978), Haines and Pocock (1980), Fergusson et al. (1980), Gibson and Farmer (1983), Forstner (1985); Purves (1985), Elliott (1986), and Xian (1987) have carried out assessment of the concentration of heavy metals through various anthropogenic sources such as industrial wastes, automobile emissions, mining and agricultural activities. The anthropogenic sources can easily accumulate in the soil and can lead to serious environmental issues.
The potentially toxic metals such as Cu, Cd, Cr, Pb, As, Hg, Se, Ni and Zn may accumulate in food crops or may leach through soils polluting water bodies and always pose a threat to the environment and health of the human beings (Hooda and Alloway 1998). Among these metals, Pb and Cd are the most hazardous from an environmental viewpoint. The accumulation and movement of trace elements in the soil are significantly affected by the physicochemical parameters associated with the soil (Li and Shuman 1996) and the adsorption process of the soil (Berti and Jacobs 1996). The mobility of the trace elements depends not only on their total concentration in soil but also on the soil properties, elemental properties, and environmental factors (He et al. 2004). The organic matter content, moisture content, pH, and redox potential of the soil considerably affect the solubility of metals (Bozkurt et al. 2000). Most of the soils are soluble in acidic soils, in slightly basic, neutral or nearly neutral soils (Schmitt and Sticker 1991). The texture, pH, organic matter content, moisture content, and cation exchange capacity are important with respect to the form of trace metal and its bioavailability. The elements Mn, Fe, and Pb can be enriched in soil because of their low mobility at acidic pH. However, the elements Zn, Cu, and Ni have higher mobility under acidic conditions.
Generally, the concentration and distribution of trace elements are influenced by the nature of parent materials, mobility, climate, mineralogy, texture, geological factors and the physicochemical parameters of the environmental matrices (Krishna and Govil 2007). The most important variables of soils which control the trace element availability are pH, mineral composition, organic matter-quantity and quality, texture, temperature, and water regime. Mortved (1991) gave some models to predict the phytoavailability of trace elements, especially of Cu, Zn, Cd, and Pb, but rather they are limited to a given plant and specific growth conditions. The discharge of a large amount of sewage and other waste from different outlets influences the concentration of the trace elements in the coastal area (Solai et al. 2010). The trace elements are present mainly in water, soil and sediment components of environmental matrix. The coastal marine sediments are largely governed by the physicochemical parameters of that environment and also the biogeochemical processes (Patil et al. 2012; Saravanakumar et al. 2008). Together with the quantification of trace elements concentration, the estimation of pollution indices in different environmental matrices can also be highly significant. The major pollution indices are enrichment factor (EF), contamination factor (CF), geo-accumulation index (Igeo), pollution load index (PLI), and modified degree of contamination (mCd) (Shafie et al. 2013).
In view of all the above, the coastal environment of Kerala has been identified for the present investigation with the major objectives of understanding the dynamics of trace elements, estimating pollution indices and correlating physicochemical parameters with trace elements concentration, in the sediment samples collected from the region. The results are presented and discussed in detail in the light of literature and various studies conducted elsewhere.
Methods
In the present investigation, inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometer (ICP-MS) (Model: iCAP RQ; Maker: Thermo Electron Corporation) is used for the quantification of trace elements in the sediment samples collected from the coastal belt of Kerala. The physicochemical parameters were measured using appropriate instruments and methods. Arc GIS10.5 version has been used for mapping and cartographical analysis.
Study area
Kerala has nine coastal districts, viz. Kasaragod, Kannur, Kozhikode, Malappuram, Thrissur, Ernakulam, Alappuzha, Kollam and Thiruvananthapuram, and the present study covers all the nine coastal districts having a total coastal stretch of about 560 km. The samples were collected from 18 different locations (Fig. 1) along the coastal belt of Kerala, viz. Bekal, Muzhappilangad, Kappad, Padinjarekkara, Akalad, Cherai, Mararikulam, Alappuzha, Thottapalli, Alappad, Parayakadavu, Chavara, Neendakara, Thangassery, Kollam, Mayyanad, Shankumugham, and Kovalam.
The latitude and longitude of these sampling stations are given in Table 1. The coastal environment of Kerala, especially the southern parts, is heavily industrialized and urbanized. Also, the industrial installations in the study area are very close to the costal belts. The rapid increase in population, large-scale development of manufacturing industries, and other man-made activities has contributed a large amount of waste disposal such as sewage water and solid discharges that contain a number of trace elements.
Sample collection
About 1m2 of the area was marked, and the stones, pebbles, grass and the root mat on its surface were cleaned. The ‘V’-shaped cut was done first and then the sediment samples up to the desired depth (0–20 cm) were taken, and a uniformly 2-cm-thick slice was taken. The bulk sample was reduced to about 500 gm by quartering process. The samples which were collected were mixed thoroughly and divided into four equal parts, the two opposite ones were discarded, and the remaining two were mixed again. This process was repeated until about 500 gm of sediments sample was left, and this part was taken as the representative sample. All the samples were collected in a polythene bag and brought to the laboratory for further analysis.
Sample digestion and mineral analysis
The samples were dried at room temperature and ground to powder using an agate mortar and sieved through a 2 mm sieve. Then, the samples were digested using triacid method. For the triacid preparation, HNO3, H2SO4, and HClO4 were mixed in the ratio of 9:2:1, respectively. From the sieved sample, 1 gm of accurately weighted sample is transferred into a conical flask. Ten milliliters of triacid is added to this and then heated at 80 °C until the samples were completely digested. After digestion, the samples were made up to 100 mL using distilled water and used for mineral analysis of ten trace elements, viz. As, Cd, Cu, Cr, Mn, Zn, Ni, Pb, Ti, and Fe, using inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometer (ICP-MS) (Del Mastro et al. 2015).
Assessment of pollution indices
Mainly five parameters are used for the assessment of degree of contamination in the environment due to the trace metal accumulation. They are enrichment factor (EF), contamination factor (CF), geo-accumulation index (Igeo), pollution load index (PLI), and modified degree of contamination (mCd). These five parameters are the indicators of pollution level in the environment.
Enrichment factor (EF)
The parameter used for the estimation of degree of contamination due to trace elements in the soil or sediment samples is called the enrichment factor (Salah et al. 2012). The estimation of the presence and intensity of the anthropogenic contaminant deposition can also be done from the enrichment factor. There is a reference element concentration which is stable in the soil with the normalization of one metal concentration of topsoil in the calculation (Barbieri 2016). The Fe and Al are used for most of the studies as the reference element. The investigators working on the coastal and marine sediments use Fe as the reference element in several studies (Emmerson et al. 1997; Lee et al. 1998). From these observations, in the present study of enrichment factor, Fe is taken as the reference element. The enrichment factor can be calculated by the following relation:
where \(\left( {C_{x} /C_{{{\text{Fe}}}} } \right)_{{{\text{sediment}}}}\) is the ratio of the concentration of the element x to that of Fe in the sediment sample and \(\left( {C_{x} /C_{{{\text{Fe}}}} } \right) _{{ {\text{reference}}\;{\text{value}}}}\) is the ratio of the concentration of the element x to that of Fe in an unpolluted reference baseline. Table 2 gives the classification of enrichment factor. The reference value is chosen as the upper continental crust (UCC)/continental crust (CC) value from the literature (Taylor et al. 1964; Bowen 1979; Wedepohl 1995; Rudnick and Gao 2004, Elias et al. 2018). The same method was used by Birch (2017) and Rudnick and Gao (2004) to estimate the upper continental crust values of the metals. The upper continental crust values of trace elements chosen for the present investigation are summarized in Table 7.
Contamination factor (CF)
The contamination factor is the ratio of metal concentration in the sediment sample to the reference value of that metal (Barbieri 2016). The sediment sample contamination can be assessed using the contamination factor and can be calculated using the following relation:
where \(\left( {C_{X} } \right)_{{{\text{sediment}}}}\) is the concentration of the element x in the sample and \((C_{X} )_{{{\text{reference}}}}\) is the concentration of the reference element. The classification of contamination factor is given in Table 3.
Geo-accumulation index (I geo )
The concentration of metal accumulation in sediment above the baseline concentration is estimated by the geo-accumulation index and was proposed by Mullar. It is classified into seven classes and is a quantitative measure of the degree of pollution in aquatic sediments. The seven classes are classified from unpolluted to very strongly polluted (Rubio et al. 2000; Praveena et al. 2008). The geo-accumulation index can be calculated by the following relation:
where Cx is the concentration of metal x in the sediment sample and Bx is the background or reference value of metal x. In order to compensate for the variations due to the lithogenic effects, a 1.5 background matrix factor is used (Haris et al. 2017). The classification of geo-accumulation index is given in Table 4.
Pollution load index (PLI)
Pollution load index is used for the determination of entire pollution level of a specific area. It is also explained as the assessment of overall sediment toxicity. The pollution load index can be calculated using the following relation:
where \({\text{CF}}_{n}\) is the contamination factor of nth metal and n is the number of metals assessing. The classification of pollution load index is given in Table 5.
Modified degree of contamination (mC d )
The modified degree of contamination helps in the assessment of overall heavy metal contamination in the sediment samples. The degree of contamination is a cumulative index calculated by the sum of individual contamination factors (Cd). The modified degree of contamination can be used for better assessment value. The modified degree of contamination can be calculated using the following relation:
where CF is the contamination factor and n is the number of analyzed trace elements. The classification of modified degree of contamination is given in Tables 6, 7.
Results
The concentration of trace elements, viz. As, Cd, Cu, Cr, Mn, Zn, Ni, Pb, Ti and Fe, in the sediment samples collected from the coastal environment of Kerala is summarized in Table 8. The spatial distribution of important toxic trace elements along the Kerala coastal belt is shown in Figs. 2, 3.
The statistical data of the enrichment factor derived from the concentration of trace elements are given in Table 9. The enrichment factor value of As is higher, and a lower value for Ti is observed when compared with other elements in the sediment samples. The distribution of enrichment factor due to trace elements is under minimal and moderate condition, and most of the trace elements enrichment in the sediments of coastal Kerala may be due to the natural weathering processes.
The statistical parameters of the contamination factor are summarized in Table 10. The higher value of contamination factor is observed for Zn and lower value for As. The contamination factor values corresponding to each element for all the collected samples were less than one. It indicates that the present study area is under low contamination due to the accumulation of trace elements.
The statistical data of the geo-accumulation index are given in Table 11. The geo-accumulation index value corresponding to the trace elements for all the collected samples was negative. It indicates that present study area is practically unpolluted due to the accumulation of trace elements.
The statistical parameters of pollution load index and modified degree of contamination are shown in Table 12. Pollution load index varies from 0.0006 (Akalad, Cherai, and Shankumukham) to 0.0047 (Thottapalli) with a mean value of 0.0021. The pollution load index was less than one in all the sampling stations, which indicates that there is no overall pollution in the coastal belt of Kerala due to trace elements enrichment. Modified degree of contamination ranges from 0.013 (Shankumukham) to 0.129 (Parayakadavu) with a mean value of 0.066. The modified degree of contamination for all the sampling stations was less than 1.5 indicating that the coastal belts are under the category of nil to a very low degree of contamination.
The statistical data of the physicochemical parameters of sediment samples collected from the coastal belt of Kerala are shown in Table 13. The dependence of physicochemical parameters of sediments samples on the concentration of trace element has been studied using Pearson’s correlation matrix and is given in Table 14.
In the Pearson’s correlation analysis (Table 14), the values were taken from − 1 to + 1, where − 1 indicates the perfect negative correlation; 0 indicates no correlation; and + 1 indicates a perfect positive correlation. In the present study, correlation coefficient values between − 0.5 and 0.5 were considered. A significant positive correlation is observed between most of the trace elements. Arsenic did not show any significant correlation with any of the elements or physicochemical parameters. The physicochemical parameters, viz. organic matter content and silt + clay (%), show a significant positive correlation with the concentration of Fe. A good positive correlation is observed between electrical conductivity and concentration of Cu. The physicochemical parameters, viz. moisture content, pH, and sand (%), did not possess any impact on the trace elements accumulation in the beach sediments of coastal Kerala.
Discussion
The results of trace elements concentration in sediment samples indicate that arsenic concentration varies in the range from 0.06 ppb (Shankumukham) to 171.4 ppb (Kovalam) with a mean value of 27.83 ppb. The enrichment factor of arsenic varies from 0.10 (Shankumukham) to 28.83 (Kovalam) with a mean value of 4.61. Minimal enrichment was observed for arsenic in most of the coastal areas by the natural means, i.e., through crustal materials or natural weathering process. There are only a few coastal regions having moderate or significant enrichment of arsenic. This indicates that the anthropogenic sources like disposal of sewage, industrial activities, domestic and urban wastes contribute more to the enrichment in these regions rather than natural means. The geo-accumulation index of arsenic for all the sampling stations was less than zero, indicating coastal belts are practically unpolluted due to the presence of arsenic. The contamination factor was less than one in all the sampling stations, which indicates that the coastal belts are less contaminated with arsenic.
The concentration of cadmium ranges from 0.07 ppb (Cherai) to 0.27 ppb (Mayyanad) with a mean value of 0.15 ppb. The enrichment factor of cadmium ranges from 0.37 (Neendakara) to 7.01 (Cherai) with a mean value of 2.19. The results indicate that most of the sampling sites have minimal enrichment by the nature. Moderate and significant enrichment of cadmium in a few coastal regions is the result of contribution of unnatural sources like industrial or manmade activities. The geo-accumulation index of cadmium for all the selected sampling stations was less than zero indicating that the coastal belts are practically unpolluted due to the presence of cadmium. The contamination factor was less than one in all the sampling stations, which indicates that the coastal belts are less contaminated with cadmium.
The concentration of copper ranges from 5.20 ppb (Cherai) to 33.4 ppb (Neendakara) with a mean value of 16.31 ppb. The enrichment factor of copper varies in the range from 0.23 (Thottapalli) to 1.98 (Cherai) with a mean value of 0.74. It indicates that all the sampling stations have deficiency to minimal enrichment of copper by the nature. The geo-accumulation index of copper in all the sampling stations was less than zero, which shows that the coastal belts are practically unpolluted with the presence of copper. The contamination factor was less than one in all the sampling stations indicating that coastal belts are less contaminated with copper.
The concentration of chromium ranges from 0.03 ppm (Cherai) to 0.57 ppm (Thottapalli) with a mean value of 0.19 ppm. The enrichment factor of chromium varies in the range from 0.72 (Thangassery) to 5.21 (Shankumukham) with a mean value of 2.52. It indicates that most of the sampling sites have minimal enrichment by the nature. Significant enrichment of chromium was found in the coastal areas of Mararikulam and Shankumukham. The geo-accumulation index in all the sampling stations was less than zero, indicating that the coastal belts are practically unpolluted with the presence of chromium. The contamination factor was less than one in all the sampling stations, indicating that the coastal belt of Kerala is less contaminated with chromium.
The concentration of manganese varies from 0.12 ppm (Shankumukham) to 4.20 ppm (Neendakara) with a mean value of 1.76 ppm. The enrichment factor ranges from 0.84 (Chavara) to 6.12 (Bekal) with a mean value of 1.88. The results indicate that most of the sampling sites have minimal enrichment by the nature. A moderate enrichment was observed in Bekal, and it may be due to the waste disposal from the nearby urban environment or use of fertilizers from the nearby agricultural fields. The geo-accumulation index of manganese for all the sampling stations was less than zero, indicating that the coastal belts are practically unpolluted due to the presence of manganese. The contamination factor was less than one in all the sampling stations, indicating that coastal belts are less contaminated with manganese.
The concentration of zinc ranges from 0.09 ppm (Akalad) to 3.39 ppm (Thottapalli) with a mean value of 0.47 ppm. The enrichment factor ranges from 1.61 (Neendakara) to 19.89 (Shankumukham) with a mean value of 6.21. It indicates that all the sampling sites have moderate enrichment of zinc through unnatural means except Neendakara. Neendakara coast has the minimal enrichment of zinc by the nature. The geo-accumulation index of zinc for all the sampling sites was less than zero, indicating that the coastal belts are practically unpolluted due to the presence of zinc. The contamination value of zinc is less than one in all the sampling sites, indicating that the coastal belts of Kerala are less contaminated with zinc.
The concentration of nickel varies from 3.40 ppb (Shankumukham) to 35.70 ppb (Parayakadavu) with a mean value of 18.18 ppb. The enrichment factor varies from 0.20 (Neendakara) to 1.66 (Bekal) with a mean value of 0.60. It indicates that all the sampling sites have minimal enrichment of nickel by the nature. The geo-accumulation index of nickel for all the samples was less than zero, which indicates that the coastal belts are practically unpolluted with the presence of nickel. The contamination values of nickel are less than one in all the sampling sites, indicating that the coastal belts of Kerala are less contaminated with nickel.
The concentration of lead in the samples chosen ranges from 4.70 ppb (Muzhappilangad) and 95.5 ppb (Alappuzha) with a mean value of 32.54 ppb. The enrichment factor varies from 0.32 (Kovalam) to 5.44 (Cherai) with a mean value of 1.86. The results indicate that most of the sampling sites have minimal enrichment by the nature. The geo-accumulation index of lead for all the sampling stations was less than zero, indicating that the coastal belts are practically unpolluted due to the presence of lead. The contamination factor was less than one in all the sampling stations, indicating that the coastal belts are less contaminated with lead.
The concentration of titanium in the collected sediment samples varies from 0.09 ppm (Akalad) to 2.93 ppm (Parayakadavu) with a mean value of 0.82 ppm. The enrichment factor varies from 0.01 (Mararikulam) to 2.12 (Cherai) with a mean value of 0.21. It indicates that most of the sampling sites have minimal enrichment of titanium by the nature. The geo-accumulation index of titanium for all the sampling sites was less than zero, indicating that the coastal belts are practically unpolluted with the presence of titanium. The contamination factor was less than one in all the sampling stations, indicating that the coastal belts of Kerala are less contaminated with titanium.
The trace elements concentration and pollution indices are compared with the literature values. The comparison of trace elements concentration, pollution load index, and modified degree of contamination with other regions of the world is summarized in Tables 15 and 16, respectively. From the comparison study, it is clear that the concentrations of the trace elements, pollution load index, and modified degree of contamination obtained from the present investigation were comparable with the reported values of the concentration of trace elements, pollution load index, and modified degree of contamination of other regions of the world.
Conclusion
The study indicates that the distribution and enrichment of trace elements in the coastal environment of Kerala depend on the lithogenic factors. Most of the trace elements enrichment in the coastal belt is due to the crustal materials or natural weathering process and atmospheric deposition. Trace elements, viz. zinc and arsenic, are found to be highly enriched, and nickel and titanium are less enriched in the coastal belt of Kerala. The anthropogenic sources, viz. industrial activities, disposal of sewage, use of fertilizers from the agricultural fields, domestic and urban wastes, might also influence the enrichment of trace elements in the coastal environments of Kerala. None of the trace elements concentration exceeded the permissible limits, and the pollution indices clearly indicate the quality of sediment samples in the coastal environment of Kerala is not very toxic in nature. The physicochemical parameters have influenced the concentration of the trace elements in the sediment samples. Periodic monitoring of the sediment samples is needed to evaluate the impact of toxic trace elements in the study area.
Availability of data and materials
All data generated or analyzed during the present study are included in this published article.
Abbreviations
- ICP-MS:
-
Inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometer
- EF:
-
Enrichment factor
- CF:
-
Contamination factor
- Igeo :
-
Geo-accumulation index
- PLI:
-
Pollution load index
- mCd :
-
Modified degree of contamination
- ppb:
-
Parts per billion
- ppm:
-
Parts per million
- Arc GIS:
-
Area coded geographic information system
References
Abdulqaderismaeel W, Kusag A (2015) Enrichment factor and geo-accumulation index for heavy metals at industrial zone in Iraq. IOSR J Appl Geol Geophys 3:2321–2990
Abrahams PW (2002) Soils: Their implications to human health. Sci Total Environ 291(1–3):1–32
Abrahim GMS, Parker RJ (2008) Assessment of heavy metal enrichment factors and the degree of contamination in marine sediments from Tamaki Estuary, Auckland New Zealand. Environ Monit Assess 136(1–3):227–238
Alam MGM, Snow ET, Tanaka A (2003) Arsenic and heavy metal contamination of vegetables grown in Samta village Bangladesh. Sci Total Environ 308(1–3):83–96
Alloway B (1995) Heavy metals in soils, vol 2. Chapman and Hall, London
Barbieri M (2016) The importance of enrichment factor (EF) and geoaccumulation index (Igeo) to evaluate the soil contamination. J Geol Geophys 5(1):1–4
Berti WR, Jacobs LW (1996) Chemistry and phytotoxicity of soil trace elements from repeated sewage sludge applications. J Environ Qual 25(5):1025–1032
Birch GF (2017) Determination of sediment metal background concentrations and enrichment in marine environments–a critical review. Sci Total Environ 580:813–831
Bingham FA, Page R, Mahler & T., Ganje. (1976) Yield and cadmium accumulation of forage species in relation to cadmium of sludge amunded soil. J Environ Qual 5:57–60
Borodin LS (1999) Estimated chemical composition and petrochemical evolution of the upper continental crust. Geochem Int 37(8):723–734
Bowen HJM (1979) Environmental chemistry of the elements. Academic Press, London, p 333
Bozkurt S, Moreno L, Neretnieks I (2000) Long-term processes in waste deposits. Sci Total Environ 250(1–3):101–121
Bramha SN, Mohanty AK, Satpathy KK, Kanagasabapathy KV, Panigrahi S, Samantara MK, Prasad MVR (2014) Heavy metal content in the beach sediment with respect to contamination levels and sediment quality guidelines: a study at Kalpakkam coast, southeast coast of India. Environ Earth Sci 72(11):4463–4472
Brar MS, Malhi SS, Singh AP, Arora CL, Gill KS (2000) Sewage water irrigation effects on some potentially toxic trace elements in soil and potato plants in northwestern India. Can J Soil Sci 80(3):465–471
Chabukdhara M, Munjal A, Nema AK, Gupta SK, Kaushal RK (2016) Heavy metal contamination in vegetables grown around peri-urban and urban-industrial clusters in Ghaziabad, India. Hum Ecol Risk Assess Int J 22(3):736–752. https://doi.org/10.1080/10807039.2015.1105723
Chao TT (1972) Selective dissolution of manganese oxides from soils and sediments with acidified hydroxylamine hydrochloride. Soil Sci Soc Am J 36(5):764–768
Colbourn P, Thornton I (1978) Lead pollution in agricultural soils. J Soil Sci 29(4):513–526
Condie KC (1993) Chemical composition and evolution of the upper continental crust: Contrasting results from surface samples and shales. Chem Geol 104(1–4):1–37
Del Mastro AM, Londonio A, Rebagliati RJ, Pereyra M, Dawidowski L, Gómez D, Smichowski P (2015) Plasma-based techniques applied to the determination of 17 elements in partitioned top soils. Microchem J 123:224–229
Devanesan E, Chandramohan J, Harikrishnan N, Kumar GS, Ravisankar R (2018) Evaluation of metal contamination in coastal sediments of east coast of Tamilnadu India. J Radiat Nucl Appl, 3(2): 89–102. https://doi.org/10.18576/jrna/030204
Eade KE, Fahrig WF (1973) Regional, lithological and temporal variation in the abundances of some trace elements in the Canadian Shield. Bull Geol Surv Canada, 46
Elias MS, Ibrahim S, Samuding K, Rahman SA, Hashim A (2018) The sources and ecological risk assessment of elemental pollution in sediment of Linggi estuary, Malaysia. Mar Pollut Bull 137:646–655. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2018.11.006
Elliott HA, Liberati MR, Huang CP (1986) Effect of iron oxide removal on heavy metal sorption by acid subsoils. Water Air Soil Pollut 27(3–4):379–389
Emmerson RHC, O’Reilly-Wiese SB, Macleod CL, Lester JN (1997) A multivariate assessment of metal distribution in inter-tidal sediments of the Blackwater Estuary UK. Mar Pollut Bull 34(11):960–968
Facchinelli A, Sacchi E, Mallen L (2001) Multivariate statistical and GIS-based approach to identify heavy metal sources in soils. Environ Pollut 114(3):313–324
Fahmida K, Rafizul Islam Md (2019) Assessment of heavy metal contamination in soil of waste disposal site in Bangladesh: implication of spatial, seasonal variation and indices. In: Pradhan B (ed) GCEC 2017, vol 9, pp 957–983. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-8016-6_67
Fahrig WF, Eade KE (1968) The chemical evolution of the Canadian Shield. Can J Earth Sci 5(5):1247–1252
Fergusson JE, Je F, Rw H, Yong TS, Thiew SH (1980) Heavy metal pollution by traffic in Christchurch, New Zealand: lead and cadmium content of dust, soil, and plant samples
Förstner U (1985) Chemical forms and reactivities of metals in sediments. In: Chemical methods for assessing bio-available metals in sludges and soils. Seminar, pp 1–31
Gao S, Luo T-C, Zhang B-R, Zhang H-F, Han Y, Zhao Z-D, Hu Y-K (1998) Chemical composition of the continental crust as revealed by studies in East China. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 62(11):1959–1975. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0016-7037(98)00121-5
Gibson MJ, Farmer JG (1983) A survey of trace metal contamination in Glasgow urban soils. In: International conference heavy metals in the environment, pp 1141–1144.
Haines RC, Pocock RL (1980) Heavy Metal Land Contamination: Background Levels and Site Case Histories in the London Borough of Greenwich. In: Papers to a workshop. Joint unit for research on the urban environment, University of Aston in ….
Haris H, Looi LJ, Aris AZ, Mokhtar NF, Ayob NAA, Yusoff FMd, Salleh AB, Praveena SM (2017) Geo-accumulation index and contamination factors of heavy metals (Zn and Pb) in urban river sediment. Environ Geochem Health 39(6):1259–1271. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-017-9971-0
He ZL, Zhang MK, Calvert DV, Stoffella PJ, Yang XE, Yu S (2004) Transport of heavy metals in surface runoff from vegetable and citrus fields. Soil Sci Soc Am J 68(5):1662–1669
Hooda PS, Alloway BJ (1998) Cadmium and lead sorption behaviour of selected English and Indian soils. Geoderma 84(1–3):121–134
Ito H, Iimura K (1975) Absorption of cadmium by rice plants in response to change of oxidation-reduction conditions of soils. J Sci Soil Manure Jpn 46:82–88
Jugsujinda A, Patrick WH Jr (1977) Growth and nutrient uptake by rice in a flooded soil under controlled aerobic-anaerobic and pH conditions 1. Agron J 69(4):705–710
Kemp AIS, Hawkesworth CJ (2004) Granitic perspectives on the generation and secular evolution of the continental crust. Treat Geochem 3:349–410
Kirkham MB (1975) Trace elements in corn grown on long-term sludge disposal site. Environ Sci Technol 9(8):765–768
Krishna AK, Govil PK (2007) Soil contamination due to heavy metals from an industrial area of Surat, Gujarat Western India. Environ Monit Assess 124(1–3):263–275
Kothny PJ (1973) Trace elements in the environment. American Chemical Society, Washington, D. C
Lagermerff JV, Specht AW (1970) Contamination of road side soil and vegetation with Cd Ni, Pb, and Zn. Environ Sci Technol 4:580–583
Lee SH, Jung CH, Chung H, Lee MY, Yang J-W (1998) Removal of heavy metals from aqueous solution by apple residues. Process Biochem 33(2):205–211
Li Z, Shuman LM (1996) Redistribution of forms of zinc, cadmium and nickel in soils treated with EDTA. Sci Total Environ 191(1–2):95–107
Mazurek R, Kowalska J, Gąsiorek M, Zadrożny P, Józefowska A, Zaleski T, Kępka W, Tymczuk M, Orłowska K (2017) Assessment of heavy metals contamination in surface layers of Roztocze National Park forest soils (SE Poland) by indices of pollution. Chemosphere 168:839–850. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2016.10.126
Mei J, Li Z, Sun L, Gui H, Wang X (2011) Assessment of heavy metals in the urban river sediments in Suzhou City, northern Anhui Province, China. Proced Environ Sci 10:2547–2553
Mikkelson D, Brandon D (1975) Zinc deficiency in California rice. Calif Agric 29(9):8–9
Mortvedt JJ (1991) Micronutrient fertilizer technology. Micronutr Agric 4:523–548
Müller G (1979) Schwermetalle in den Sedimenten des Rheins-Veränderungen seit 1971
Odat S (2013) Calculating pollution indices of heavy metal along Irbid/Zarqa highway-jordan. Int J Appl Sci Technol 3:72–76
Pandey B, Agrawal M, Singh S (2016) Ecological risk assessment of soil contamination by trace elements around coal mining area. J Soils Sediments 16(1):159–168
Parth V, Murthy NN, Saxena PR (2011) Assessment of heavy metal contamination in soil around hazardous waste disposal sites in Hyderabad city (India): Natural and anthropogenic implications. J Environ Res Manag 2(2):027–034
Patil PN, Sawant DV, Deshmukh RN (2012) Physico-chemical parameters for testing of water–a review. Int J Environ Sci 3(3):1194–1207
Praveena SM, Ahmed A, Radojevic M, Abdullah MH, Aris AZ (2008) Heavy metals in mangrove surface sediment of Mengkabong Lagoon. Multivariate and geo-accumulation index approaches, Sabah
Purves D (1985) Fundamental aspects of pollution control and environmental science 7: trace element contamination of the environment. Elsevier, New York
Reddy CN, Patrick WH Jr (1977) Effect of redox potential and pH on the uptake of cadmium and lead by rice plants. J Environ Qual 6(3):259–262
Ronov AB, Yaroshevsky AA (1976) A new model of chemical composition of the Earth crust. Geokhimiya 12:1763
Rubio B, Nombela MA, Vilas F (2000) Geochemistry of major and trace elements in sediments of the Ria de Vigo (NW Spain): An assessment of metal pollution. Mar Pollut Bull 40(11):968–980
Rudnick RL, Gao S (2003) Composition of the continental crust. The Crust 3:1–64
Rudnick RL, Gao S (2004) Composition of the Continental Crust. Treat Geochem 3:1–64
Salah EAM, Zaidan TA, Al-Rawi AS (2012) Assessment of heavy metals pollution in the sediments of Euphrates River, Iraq. J Water Resour Protect 4(12):1009
Santos IR, Silva-Filho EV, Schaefer CE, Albuquerque-Filho MR, Campos LS (2005) Heavy metal contamination in coastal sediments and soils near the Brazilian Antarctic Station King George Island. Mar Pollut Bull 50(2):185–194
Sarala TD, Vidya VM (2013) Assessing heavy metal contamination of road side soil in urban area. J Res Biol 3(1):789–796
Saravanakumar A, Rajkumar M, Serebiah JS, Thivakaran GA (2008) Seasonal variations in physico-chemical characteristics of water, sediment and soil texture in arid zone mangroves of Kachchh-Gujarat. J Environ Biol 29(5):725–732
Schmitt HS, Sticker H (1991) Metals and their compounds in the Environment. In: Merian E (ed) Heavy metal compounds in the soil. Weinheim VCH, New York
Shafie NA, Aris AZ, Zakaria MP, Haris H, Lim WY, Isa NM (2013) Application of geoaccumulation index and enrichment factors on the assessment of heavy metal pollution in the sediments. J Environ Sci Health, Part A 48(2):182–190
Shaw DM, Cramer JJ, Higgins MD, Truscott MG (1986) Composition of the Canadian Precambrian shield and the continental crust of the Earth. Geol Soc Spec Publ Nat Lower Continent Crust 24:275–282
Shaw DM, Reilly GA, Muysson JR, Pattenden GE, Campbell FE (1967) An estimate of the chemical composition of the Canadian Precambrian Shield. Can J Earth Sci 4(5):829–853
Shaw DM, Dostal J, Keays RR (1976) Additional estimates of continental surface Precambrian shield composition in Canada. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 40(1):73–83
Sims KWW, Newsom HE, Gladney ES (1990) Chemical fractionation during formation of the Earth’s core and continental crust: clues form As, Sb, W and Mo. In: Origin of the earth, pp 291–317
Sivakumar S, Chandrasekaran A, Balaji G, Ravisankar R (2016) Assessment of heavy metal enrichment and the degree of contamination in coastal sediment from South East Coast of Tamilnadu India. J Heavy Met Toxicity Dis 1(2):1–8
Solai A, Gandhi MS, Sriram E (2010) Implications of physical parameters and trace elements in surface water off Pondicherry, Bay of Bengal, South East Coast of India. Int J Environ Sci 1(4):529–542
Taylor RM, McKenzie RM, Norrish K (1964) The mineralogy and chemistry of manganese in some Australian soils. Soil Res 2(2):235–248
Taylor SR, McLennan SM (1981) The composition and evolution of the continental crust: Rare earth element evidence from sedimentary rocks. Philos Trans R Soc Lond Ser A Math Phys Sci 301(1461):381–399
Taylor SR, McLennan SM (1985) The continental crust: its composition and evolution. Blackwell Seientif. Publ, Oxford, p 312
Taylor SR, McLennan SM (1995) The geochemical evolution of the continental crust. Rev Geophys 33(2):241–265
Tokman N, Akman S, Ozeroglu C (2004) Determination of lead, copper and manganese by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry after separation/concentration using a water-soluble polymer. Talanta 63(3):699–703
Tomlinson DL, Wilson JG, Harris CR, Jeffrey DW (1980) Problems in the assessment of heavy-metal levels in estuaries and the formation of a pollution index. Helgoländer Meeresuntersuchungen 33(1):566
Vaezi AR, Karbassi AR, Valavi Sh, Ganjali MR (2015) Ecological risk assessment of metals contamination in the sediment of the Bamdezh wetland Iran. Int J Environ Sci Technol 12(3):951–958. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-014-0710-0
Weaver BL, Tarney J (1984) Empirical approach to estimating the composition of the continental crust. Nature 310:575–577
Wedepohl KH (1995) The composition of the continental crust. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 59:271–239
Xian X (1987) Chemical partitioning of cadmium, zinc, lead, and copper in soils near smelter. J Environ Sci Health Part A 22(6):527–541
Acknowledgements
The first author wishes to acknowledge the University Grants Commission, New Delhi, for awarding JRF. The technical help received from Ms. Haritha T. Nair, Mr. Mithun Raj P. R., and Mr. Vigil Kumar V. is gratefully acknowledged.
Funding
The work was self-funded by the authors.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
All the authors were involved in the study design, field and laboratory works. Data analysis and interpretation of the data were undertaken by the authors VV, VVS and KPS. VV and VP were the major contributors in writing the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Ethics approval and consent to participate
Not applicable.
Consent for publication
Not applicable.
Competing interests
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
About this article
Cite this article
Vineethkumar, V., Sayooj, V.V., Shimod, K.P. et al. Estimation of pollution indices and hazard evaluation from trace elements concentration in coastal sediments of Kerala, Southwest Coast of India. Bull Natl Res Cent 44, 198 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1186/s42269-020-00455-0
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s42269-020-00455-0