International Journal of Engineering Research in Electronics and Communication Engineering

Assessment of Contamination Factor of Heavy Metals in Sediment from Adyar Estuary

Author : Sophia.S ¹

Date of Publication :20th April 2018

Abstract: The main objective of this study was to assess the pollution indices by the heavy metals and its seasonal variation in sediment. Sediments from the Adyar estuary were collected to evaluate the contamination of sediment by the metals including Arsenic (As), Lead (Pb) and mercury (Hg). Sediment samples were collected in the ten sampling points in the mouth of the estuary. The pollution indices of the Arsenic (As), Lead (Pb) and mercury (Hg) in the sediment were estimated by Contamination factor (CF), Geo accumulation index (Igeo), Degree of contamination of sediments (cd) and Pollution load index (PLI). The sediment samples were subjected to a total digestion technique and analysed by Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometer (ICP-MS) for metals including As, Pb and Hg. The Adyar estuary sediment has a low level of contamination with respect to Pb and Hg. Among all, Arsenic has the highest in all evaluated method, which shows low to moderate level of pollution.

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