Assessment of heavy metals distribution in a coastal environment of Versova coast, Mumbai, India

Abstract

The existence of heavy metals namely, copper, chromium, and cadmium was studied in coastal waters off Versova, Mumbai. Monthly sampling was carried out from October 2012 to March 2013 across 36 stations. Concentrations of Copper (Cu), Cadmium (Cd) and Chromium (Cr) were measured using the Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry (AAS). The concentration of dissolved elements in surface water varied from 0.01 to 0.03 mg/l. Concentrations of dissolved elements in sub-surface waters were as follows: Cu (0.01 to 0.02 mg/l), Cd (0.02 to 0.03 mg/l) and Cr (0.02 to 0.03 mg/l). The concentrations of Cu, Cd and Cr in suspended solids of the surface water were 0.82 – 1.68, 5.22 – 10.24 and 3.26 – 16.03 mg/kg, respectively, while their concentrations in suspended solid obtained from the sub-surface water were 2.77 – 4.29, 3.24 – 10.10 and 1.91 – 5.67 mg/kg, respectively. The concentrations of Cu, Cd, and Cr in sediments were 74.52 – 112.81, 3.02 – 22.88 and 65.05 – 107.74 mg/kg, respectively. The physico-chemical parameters of water and sediment were analyzed to understand the temporal distribution of heavy metals.