TY - JOUR
T1 - Geochemical fractionation and risk assessment of trace elements in sediments from tide-dominated Hooghly (Ganges) River Estuary, India
AU - Mondal, Priyanka
AU - Schintu, Marco
AU - Marras, Barbara
AU - Bettoschi, Alexandre
AU - Marrucci, Alessandro
AU - Sarkar, Santosh Kumar
AU - Chowdhury, Ranju
AU - Jonathan, Muthuswamy Ponniah
AU - Biswas, Jayanta Kumar
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 Elsevier B.V.
PY - 2020/1/20
Y1 - 2020/1/20
N2 - The geochemical fractionation and potential mobilization of cadmium, chromium, copper, nickel and lead were studied in surficial sediments (top 0–10 cm; <63 μm grain-size) of the Hooghly (Ganges) River Estuary, eastern part of India, using a sequential extraction procedure. The risk assessment was evaluated at three specific levels; i.e., enrichment level (enrichment factor, geo-accumulation index), the availability level (elements bound to different fractions, risk assessment code, Individual and Global contamination factors) and biological toxicity level (Potential ecological risk index; sediment quality guidelines). Different geochemical phases indicated heterogeneities in TE distribution patterns as follows: (i) Cd was dominant in the exchangeable phase and significant proportion of Pb was bounded to the reducible fractions; (ii) the potential mobile fraction (ΣF1 − F3) in the sediments was higher for Cd and Pb (>46%), reflecting their adverse impact on benthic organisms as they are weakly bound to the sediment and can migrate to water; (iii) a minor fraction of Cu (<10%) was found in the oxidizable fraction suggesting less environmental risk to the aquatic biota and (iv) the dominance of the Ni, Cr and Cu in the residual fraction supports the assumption of their geogenic origin. Both Cd and Cu posed medium to high ecological risk values based on risk assessment code (RAC). Global Contamination Factor (GCF) values allowed to identify the “pollution hotspots” in the study area.
AB - The geochemical fractionation and potential mobilization of cadmium, chromium, copper, nickel and lead were studied in surficial sediments (top 0–10 cm; <63 μm grain-size) of the Hooghly (Ganges) River Estuary, eastern part of India, using a sequential extraction procedure. The risk assessment was evaluated at three specific levels; i.e., enrichment level (enrichment factor, geo-accumulation index), the availability level (elements bound to different fractions, risk assessment code, Individual and Global contamination factors) and biological toxicity level (Potential ecological risk index; sediment quality guidelines). Different geochemical phases indicated heterogeneities in TE distribution patterns as follows: (i) Cd was dominant in the exchangeable phase and significant proportion of Pb was bounded to the reducible fractions; (ii) the potential mobile fraction (ΣF1 − F3) in the sediments was higher for Cd and Pb (>46%), reflecting their adverse impact on benthic organisms as they are weakly bound to the sediment and can migrate to water; (iii) a minor fraction of Cu (<10%) was found in the oxidizable fraction suggesting less environmental risk to the aquatic biota and (iv) the dominance of the Ni, Cr and Cu in the residual fraction supports the assumption of their geogenic origin. Both Cd and Cu posed medium to high ecological risk values based on risk assessment code (RAC). Global Contamination Factor (GCF) values allowed to identify the “pollution hotspots” in the study area.
KW - Bioavailability
KW - Environmental risk
KW - Geochemical fractionation
KW - Hooghly River Estuary
KW - Mobility
KW - Trace elements
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85074917966&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.chemgeo.2019.119373
DO - 10.1016/j.chemgeo.2019.119373
M3 - Artículo
AN - SCOPUS:85074917966
SN - 0009-2541
VL - 532
JO - Chemical Geology
JF - Chemical Geology
M1 - 119373
ER -