Title: Analysis of the heavy metal pollutants in sediment samples collected from Thane Creek of Maharashtra, India

Authors: Pravin U. Singare; Shivani S. Bhattacharjee; Ram S. Lokhande

Addresses: Department of Chemistry, Bhavan's College, Munshi Nagar, Andheri (West), Mumbai 400058, India ' Department of Chemistry, Dnyansadhana College, Thane (West), Mumbai 400604, India ' Department of Chemistry, University of Mumbai, Santacruz, Vidyanagari, Mumbai 400098, India

Abstract: The wetland of Thane Creek, located at Thane, Mumbai, India, has attracted much attention of environmental biologists over the last few decades, as this creek has been subjected to a lot of pollution from the Asia's biggest Thane–Belapur industrial complex located at the south of Mumbai harbour along the west coast of India. This paper advocates ecological studies with special reference to the pollution due to heavy metals in the sediments along the Thane Creek area. The sediment samples were analysed for their heavy metal contents. These heavy metals have a marked effect on the aquatic flora and fauna which through biomagnification enter the food chain and ultimately affect the human beings as well. The experimental data on heavy metal content in sediment samples collected from Thane Creek points out to the need of regular monitoring of water resources and further improvement in the industrial waste treatment methods.

Keywords: sediment pollution; heavy metals; metallic contaminants; flame atomic absorption spectrophotometry; bioaccumulation; food chain; health hazards; India; water pollution; water monitoring; water resources monitoring; waste treatment; industrial waste.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSSOC.2013.054717

International Journal of Sustainable Society, 2013 Vol.5 No.3, pp.296 - 308

Published online: 22 Sep 2014 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article