251 babies were tested at 15 months and 24 months to study the burden and associated risk factors for elevated blood lead levels in urban Vellore, and to study its effects on child cognition and anemia.
Around 45% of children at 15 months and 46.4% at 24 months had elevated blood lead levels (>10 μg/dL). Among children who had elevated blood lead levels at 15 months, 69.2% (45/65) continued to have elevated levels at 24 months. After adjusting for potential confounders, children from houses having a piped drinking water supply and houses with mud or clay floors were at significantly higher risk of having elevated blood lead levels at 15 months. Thirty one percent (21/67) of the children with elevated blood lead levels had poor cognitive scores. Children with elevated blood lead levels at 15 months had higher risk (Adjusted OR 1.80; 95% CI 0.80–3.99) of having poorer cognitive scores at 24 months. More than half of the children (57%) were anemic at 15 months of age, and elevated blood lead levels were not significantly associated with anemia.
Elevated blood lead levels are common among preschool children living in urban slums of Vellore. Poorer conditions of the living environment are associated with elevated lead levels.
Children are more susceptible to lead (Pb) toxicity than adults as exposures to environmental pollutants during windows of developmental vulnerability in early life can cause disease and death in infancy and childhood.
Objective:The current study aims to assess lead exposure in children in the industrial belt of Jharsuguda.
Materials and Methods: This observational study with a comparator group was conducted between May 2019 to April 2020. This study assessed the BLLs of a cohort of 251 children attending the pediatrics outpatient department in Government medical, Jharsuguda, and 175 comparators within the age group 1 to 13 years. Experimental subjects from medical records were analyzed through a complete screening, demography, and health examination. For industrial exposure analysis, contaminants in soil samples collected from 9 sampling sites and BLL were analyzed by AAS and US EPA methods. It will assist in policy making regarding safe disposal of lead and prepare strategy for better health and sanitation for the local community. Chi-square test, one-way ANOVA, Odds ratio (OR) and Pearson correlation coefficient were used.
Results: Analysis of 251 study participants revealed males (157 / 62.5%) dominated over females (94 / 37.5%) with M: F 1.6:1. A statistically significant association was found between anemia and the study group (OR with 95% CI: 3.49, 2.32, 5.26; p < 0.001); good negative correlation (‘r’- 0.616, p < 0.001) was found between blood lead and soil lead levels. The highest concentration of lead (Pb) was observed at wastewater irrigated sites during the post-monsoon period than monsoon and lowest in the pre-monsoon period (p < 0.001). Conclusion:
Childhood lead poisoning accounts for a substantial burden in Jharsuguda resulting in various health impacts that can be prevented.
The study investigates lead poisoning around a lead mine in Odisha. Blood Lead Levels (PbB) and Erythrocyte Protoporphyrin (EP) were analyzed in males of different age groups living at varying distances from the mine. PbB and EP levels increased with proximity to the mine, with PbB levels exceeding recommended limits for children within a 1 km radius. The study highlights significant toxic effects of lead exposure, particularly on hem synthesis, and provides evidence of a correlation between PbB and EP levels.
A geochemical study of the trace metals and lead isotopic ratios of soil and sediments in Korba, Chhattisgarh, India is presented here for the first time. Korba, the nation’s ‘power hub’ is also the fifth among its eighty-eight most critically polluted industrial hotspots. A very high mean concentration (in mg kg-1) of V (308), Cr (567), Mn (3442), Co (92), Cu (218), Zn (426), Pb (311), Th (123) and U (32) characterized the sediments of the studied area with mean Igeo values of the trace metals ranging from −2.29 to 3.27. In the two-ratio scatter Pb isotope plot of the different environmental matrices, except for human blood, coal, soil, sediments, non-washed leaves, flyash and diesel overlapped linearly in the mixing line between diesel as the highest anthropogenic end member and a core sediment fraction representing its geogenic counterpart. The mean 207Pb/206Pb Pb ratio decreased in the order of diesel (0.9012) > flyash (0.8757) > coal (0.8498) soils and sediments (0.8374) > lowest core sediment fraction (0.8017). Principal Component Analysis (PCA) of the trace metal data extracted V, Cr, Cu, Zn, Pb, U and Th in the first component PC1. The northeastern part of the study area revealed major hotspots of V, Cu, Co, Zn and Pb near the flyash dykes of the power stations. Human blood used as a biomarker for Pb pollution in this study had a mean blood lead level of 28 μg/dl with a distinctive high 207Pb/206Pb ratio of 0.8828.
Groundwater chemistry of mining region of East Singhbhum district having complex contaminant sources were investigated based on heavy metals loads and other hydrochemical constituents. This study aimed to identify the degree of heavy metals exposure and their potential health risk to local population. The results of hydrochemical analysis showed that Na+, K+, and Ca2+ ions are the dominant cations in the groundwater, while HCO3−, F− and Cl− ions dominate the anionic part of the groundwater. The weathering process was considered the dominant factor to determine the major ionic composition in the study area. Compositional analysis for heavy metal has identified that groundwater of the study area is contaminated by Cd, Pb and Cr elements. Source of these metals have been identified as an anthropogenic inputs from mining activities and mineral processing units. Health risk analysis of individual heavy metal for chronic daily intake (CDI) and hazard quotient (HQ) was found in the order of Cr > As > Cd > Pb which is indicating high health risk for the population. In addition, Hazard Index (HI) analysis for heavy metals was found significantly high (>1) which is considered as a threat for human population because they have the tendency to accumulate in the body and cause variety of diseases like kidney problem, dysfunction of liver and renal cortex as well as cancer.
Present research work emphasizes the integrated approach of heavy metal pollution indices coupled with multivariate statistical analysis to evaluate the health risk from groundwater of the Kadava River Basin. In view of this, forty representative groundwater samples were collected from dug and bore wells during pre-monsoon seasons of 2011 from rural habitations which are actively used for drinking and irrigation. The heavy metals viz., Pb, Cd, Zn, Fe, Mn, Cr, Cu, Co and Ni were analyzed through ICP-AES and compared with the BIS standards for drinking appropriateness. The analytical results exhibited that, Pb and Ni exceeded the maximum allowable concentration in all samples; while, Cr in 95% samples and Fe in 92.5% samples found beyond the safe limits. Heavy metal contamination assessment has been performed by using Heavy metal Pollution Index (HPI), Hazard Index (HI), Heavy metal Evaluation Index (HEI) and Degree of Contamination (Cd). The HPI results depicts that, 65 and 10% groundwater samples characterizes the medium and high pollution extent class. The human exposure risk based on HI confrms that groundwater is not suitable for drinking to all age groups as the value of HI ≥ 1. HEI results shows that 82.5% groundwater samples fall in high pollution extent category and only 17.5% samples in medium pollution extent category caused due to excessive presence heavy metals. Cd result illustrates the widespread unsuitability of 97.5% groundwater samples due to high pollution load from heavy metals and 2.5% samples comes under moderate pollution extent. The correlation among the heavy metal indices depicts that HPI with HEI (r = 1) and Cd (0.825); moreover. HEI with C d (r = 0.825) are strongly associated; hence, it confrms that, all these indices are signifcant to assess the heavy metal contamination risk in the study area. PCA, CA, CM and pollution indices analysis corroborate that, high contents of heavy metals in groundwater of Kadava River Basin is owed to land use pattern, intense agriculture, leaching of fertilizers and pesticides and domestic waste into the aquifer system. The outcomes of research work may help to local planners and policy makers to prevent the health risk by the implementation of appropriate monitoring and mitigation measures for contaminated aquifers.
The occurrence of heavy metals in surface and groundwater samples were measured at 8 sampling points along stretches of Tunga, Bhadra and Tungabhadra rivers of Karnataka. Eighteen surface and 33 groundwater samples were collected and the concentrations of 7 heavy metals (cadmium, nickel, lead, iron, manganese, zinc, copper) were measured usingAtomicAbsorption Spectrophotometer(AAS).The concentrations of Cd, Ni, Pb and Cu were well below detectable level (BDL) and only Fe, Mn and Zn were detected in both types of water samples. Concentrations of Zn in both the water samples were well within the permissible limit of drinking water standards. The concentration of Fe in 43 and Mn in 33 water samples in the pre-monsoon, and Fe in 31 and Mn in 9 water samples in the post-monsoon seasons exceeded the permissible limit of drinking water standards. The purpose of this study was to identify distribution of the trace metal contaminants in surface and groundwaters along the river stretch, the findings of which would raise significant ecological and public health concerns.
A study has been conducted to assess the heavy metal contamination in soil of Dewas industrial area of Madhya Pradesh, India. Total eight locations and one control location were selected in Dewas industrial area for soil quality monitoring w.r.t. heavy metals. The nine soil samples were monitored for heavy metals such as Chromium (Cr), Manganese(Mn), Nickel (Ni), Copper (Cu), Zinc (Zn), Iron (Fe), Cadmium (Cd), Lead (Pb) and Cobalt (Co) analysis during different four quarters from April 2019 to March 2020. The heavy metal contamination with w.r.t. Contamination Index (CI), Pollution Load Index (PLI) study in selected locations in Dewas industrial area has been done. Over all Pollution Load Index of soil was found greater than 1 which shows polluted soil w.r.t. heavy metals at all selected monitoring locations in Dewas industrial area of Madhya Pradesh, India during this study.
Soil contamination in vicinity of industrial establishments due to release and accumulation of heavy metals has been a major concern for last few decades. The main objective of present research was to study the status of heavy metal contamination in the industrial area of Mandideep. The Mandideep being the largest industrial area of Madhya Pradesh in India was selected for present investigation. Mandideep is located between N 23°04’ longitude and E 077°31’ latitude with an elevation of 1496 m above MSL. The representative soil samples were collected from ten different locations and subjected to laboratory analysis for determination of total and available concentration of seven important heavy metals viz., Pb, Zn, Cr, Cu, Ni, As and Cd. Four acid digestion and DTPA extraction methods were used to digest and extract the total and available form of heavy metal from sample, respectively. The heavy metal concentrations from digest and extractant were estimated by using ICP-OES instrument. In the present study it reveals that the heavy metals concentration is at the nearby maximum level. The results showed that all heavy metalviz., Pb, Zn, Cr, Cu, Ni, As and Cd concentrations in soils surrounding the industrial area of Mandeep found in higher concentrations at all the sampling locations. The concentrations of total lead, copper, chromium, zinc, cadmium, arsenic and nickel varied from 26.6 to 143.9 mg kg-1, 81.0 to 361.0 mg kg-1, 53.0 to 462.0 mg kg-1, 80.1 to 1200.0 mg kg-1, 3.0 to 23.2 mg kg-1, 15.1 to 48.6 mg kg-1 and 84.3 to 260.7 mg kg-1, respectively whereas available lead level ranged between 1.2-4.9 mg kg-1, copper varied from 2.7 to 25.5 mg kg-1, chromium occurred in range from 0.018 to 0.052 mg kg-1, whereas zinc found in range from 7.4 to 71.6 mg kg-1, cadmium level ranged from 0.158 to 0.418 mg kg-1, arsenic varied from 0.008 to 0.021 mg kg-1 and nickel was found in a range from 0.275 to 5.952 mg kg-1. In conclusion, the soil in the vicinity of Mandideep industrial area is severely contaminated with heavy metals released and accumulated from the industrial operations.
Heavy metal contamination of the groundwater in Guwahati city was assessed for their Cd, Pb, Fe and As contents. 27 groundwater samples were analysed using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer and the levels of the four heavy metals were compared to the WHO specified maximum contaminant levels. According to WHO, the Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) for Cd is 0.003 mg/L, while for Pb and As are both 0.01 mg/L (or 10 mg/L), and for Fe permissible limit is 0.3 mg/L. From the results obtained, it was found that out of the 81.48% samples where Cd was present, all of them had Cd content above MCL. Out of the 100% samples where Pb was present, only 22.22%samples had Pb content just within MCL in the wet season, and only 7.4% within MCL in the dry season. Only one sample had Pb content below MCL in the dry season. 62.96% samples had Fe content above the WHO permissible limit in wet season, while 92.59% had it above the limit in dry season. Out of the 70.37% samples that had As content presentin wet season and 81.48% in dry season, all of the values were found to be below MCL in both seas
The study of heavy metal (HMs) contamination of environment is of great interest due to their serious health hazard. In this work, the contamination of tree leaves with the HMs in the most polluted industrial city, Korba, India is described. The leaves of common trees i.e. Azadirachta indica, Butea monosperma, Eucalyptus, Ficus religiosa, Mangifera indica and Tectona grandis were selected for assessment of the HMs contamination as bioindicator. The elevated concentration of HMs (i.e. As, Fe, Cr, Mn, Cu, Zn, Cd, Pb and Hg) in the tree leaves was observed, ranging from 2.8 – 43, 728 – 5182, 8.6 – 49, 48 – 1196, 43 – 406, 79 – 360, 1.12 – 1.65, 1.6 – 16.4 and 0.13 – 0.76 mg/kg, respectively. The concentration, enrichment and sources of the HMs in the leaves are described. Azadirachta indica leaves, accumulating higher concentration of the HMs, showed a higher efficiency as bioindicator for the urban pollution.
Samples of fruits (grape, pomegranate, orange, banana, lemon, pear, apple, sapota, mango and guava), and vegetables (brinjal, cucumber, tomato, capsicum, cauliflower, bean, radish, carrot, bottle gourd, chilly, root beet, onions, potatoes, lady’s finger, cabbage, garlic) were procured from the Bangalore city markets during the period from May through November 2007 with the objective of determining their heavy metals composition viz., lead, zinc, cadmium, copper, cobalt, chromium, iron, manganese and nickel. The samples were digested and analysed for heavy metals using flame atomic absorption spectrophotometer. The results showed that urban consumers are at greater risk of getting exposed to heavy metals through fresh vegetables and fruits because of higherlevels of heavy metals beyond the legally permissiblelimits as defined by FAO/WHO. The results indicated the order of abundance of heavy metals in fresh vegetables samples as Fe > Mn > Pb > Co > Cu > Zn > Ni > Cr > Cd, and in fruits as Fe > Cr > Mn > Pb > Ni > Co > Zn > Cu > Cd.
Heavy metals in water have severe toxicity towards aquatic life and human beings. In north-eastern region of India, increasing rate of heavy metal content in drinking water has become a matter of serious concern as it has adverse health affects at high concentration. Many researchers have already studied high concentration of arsenic and heavy metals in different districts in this region. In Lakhimpur district of Assam in India, no detailed study about arsenic and heavy metals in drinking water has been done till now. In order to assess the concentration of heavy metals in drinking water of Lakhimpur district of Assam, twenty locations were selected for the study. The analysis was carried out for three years from June 2005 to May 2008 covering four seasons in a year. Metals studied in the present investigation were Zn, Pb, Ni, Cu and As. From the analytical data, it was found that Cu and Zn concentration was within ISI permissible limit. The all seasonaverage values of Ni in all the sampling points were found within 0.1mg/L. Pb concentration was found to be at ahigher level in almost all the sources. In 5% samplesAs content exceeded ISI limit of 0.05mg/L. Seasonal variations were also observed and high values were detected in monsoon season. Health survey in the district were also done with the help of a pre-prepared questionnaire and the over all health status was found to be not satisfactory. Most of the people in the district suffered from mild to severe gastrointestinal diseases. Though, arsenic concentration was high in a few locations, no case of arsenocosis has been reported till date.
Peri-urban lands are often used for production of vegetables for better market accessibility and higher prices. But most of these lands are contaminated with heavy metals through industrial effluents, sewage and sludge, and vehicular emission. Vegetables grown in such lands, therefore, are likely to be contaminated with heavy metals and unsafe for consumption. Samples of vegetables i.e., spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.) and okra (Abelmoschus esculentus L.); soil and irrigation water were collected from 5 peri-urban sites of New Delhi to monitor their heavy metal loads. While heavy metal load of the soils were below the maximum allowable limit prescribed by the World Health Organization (WHO), it was higher in irrigation water and vegetable samples. The spinach and okra samples showed Zn, Pb and Cd levels higher than the WHO limits. The levels of Cu, however, were at their safe limits. Metal contamination was higher in spinach than in okra. Spatial variability of metal contamination was also observed in the study. Bio-availability of metals present in soil showed a positive relationship with their total content and organic matter content of soil but no relationship was observed with soil pH. Washing of vegetables with clean water was a very effective and easy way of decontaminating the metal pollution as it reduced the contamination by 75 to 100%.
Heavy metals are frequently added to the soil in the area of study as a result of industrialization. Removing this heavy metal from the soil is a difficult procedure, and phytoremediation is an essential and effective method for remediation. Heavy metals present in the study area include Fe, Cu, Cd, Pb, and Zn. Two plants namely Brassica juncea L. and Rapanus sativus L. were successfully grown on the polluted areas soil samples for phytoremediation. Brassica juncea L remediates the heavy metals Cu, Zn, Pb, and Cd, while Rapanus sativus L remediates Cd, Cu, Pb, and Fe. These two plants can uptake metal from roots to shoots, which means metal concentration is transferred from roots to shoots of the plant, indirectly decreasing concentration in the soil. Brassica juncea L was remediated for heavy metals Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn at a rate of 25.47%, 38.74%, 31.60%, and 26.75%, respectively. The remediation percentages for Rapanus sativus L of Cd, Cu, Pb, and Fe were 21.01%, 37.08%, 23.77%, and 47.19%, respectively. Brassica juncea L remediate in the order of Cu>Pb>Zn>Cd, and Rapanus sativus L Fe>Cu>Pb>Cd were in decreasing order. Shoots of Brassica juncea L had a higher bioconcentration than the roots of Rapanus sativus L, which clearly explains the metal uptake capacity of the plant. This paper investigated the uptake of heavy metals from roots to shoots, as well as their bioconcentration.
The River Kabini in Karnataka, India carries natural and anthropogenic pollutants, mainly heavy metal concentrations of Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn which are released from industrial effluents, agricultural return flows and domestic sewage. Kabini, which is a tributary of the Cauvery, drains through the industrial area at Nanjangud, Karnataka, India. Heavy metals were determined in waters and sediment (2 μm) of Kabini River. In the present investigation, chemical partitioning studies was carried out to know the association of base metals with various sedimentary phases. The concentrations of heavy metals are higher in loosely bonded fraction than the other studied fractions. Furthermore, the degree of sediment contamination was assessed by geochemical index. It should be pointed out that Cu and Cr show the highest pollution intensity. Cluster analysis was used to know about the inter correlation amongst the studied metals. It is evident that higher concentrations of metals are found in the vicinity of industrial effluents. The concentrations of Cr followed by Zn and Ni are rather higher than the maximum background values in the Kabini River sediment. This is especially true at the influx of paper mill effluents into the River.
