Comparative Study on Heavy Metal Contamination in Soil, Water and Fodder between Industrial and Non-industrial Areas of Kutch District, Gujarat, India

Abstract

Introduction Heavy metal contamination of the soil, atmosphere and whole environment is a serious issue in areas of intense industries and agriculture where more concentration of these metals shows tendency to accumulate in different environmental components by natural as well as anthropogenic activities. Atmospheric deposition, industrial effluents, artificial fertilizer application and improper waste disposal of plants and animals origin etc. are major problems responsible for heavy metal contamination. The total heavy metal In present study, heavy metal concentrations of cadmium (Cd), cobalt (Co), chromium (Cr), nickel (Ni), lead (Pb) and copper (Cu) in soil, water and fodder samples collected from industrial (Gandhidham-area 1) and non-industrial (Bhachau-area 2) areas of Kutch district of Gujarat were determined with objectives to explore presence of heavy metals and correlationship between heavy metal concentrations in environmental components. Comparing the inter-area values, the average level of Co in non-industrial area and Cu in industrial area were found significantly higher for soil samples; levels of Cd, Ni and Pb collected from non-industrial area were significantly higher as compared to industrial area for water samples while average values of Cd in industrial area were significantly higher than non-industrial area and average values of Co in non-industrial area were significantly higher than industrial area for fodder samples. Based on available Maximum Permissible Limit (MPL), none of the soil sample in industrial and non-industrial areas was found to contain heavy metals (Cd, Cr, Pb and Cu) above MPLs. K e y w o r d s Heavy metals, Soil,