Distribution of total petroleum hydrocarbons in water, sediment and its impact on six commercially important fishes of Kundalika estuary, west coast of India

Abstract

Kundalika estuary, which opens into the Arabian Sea along the west coast of India, receives effluents from industries situated on its bank. The Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons (TPHs) were studied using fluorescence spectrophotometer in water, sediments and fishes along the Kundalika estuary. The values of TPHs varied in water (2.0-19.1μgL^-1) and surface sediments (2.1-16.8μgg^-1, dry wt) with maximum concentrations recorded in the upstream region. The concentration of TPHs (dry wt) in the sediment cores collected at mouth, middle and upper parts of the estuary ranged 1.4–4.4 μgg^-1, 4.5–27.5 μgg^-1 and 6.9–29.1μgg^-1, respectively. Sediments with higher mud (silt+clay) content showed higher TPHs enrichment due to the larger specific surface area and showed significant positive correlation between mud and TPHs concentrations. The accumulated TPHs values of fin fishes (0.5-2.2μgg^-1; wet wt) were lower than hazardous levels, although there was no statistical significance between TPHs and total length and weight of fish.