Assessment of heavy metal pollution in soils around a paper mill using metal fractionation and multivariate analysis

Article Type

Research Article

Publication Title

International Journal of Environmental Science and Technology

Abstract

Effects of paper mill wastes on the status of soil copper (Cu), manganese (Mn) and zinc (Zn) in and around 16 sites near a paper mill in Assam, North East India (26°07.485′ to 26°07.915′ N latitude and 92°12.706′ to 92°15.065′ E longitude), have been investigated in the present study. The six-step sequential extraction techniques revealed that the water-soluble fraction had the least contribution (below detectable limit to 3.24 mg kg−1 of Cu, 13.87 mg kg−1 of Mn and 1.25 mg kg−1 of Zn) towards soil contamination, irrespective of the metals evaluated. Chemical fractionation of Cu, Mn and Zn in majority of the sampling locations showed non-homogenous orders of contamination. Comparison of the magnitude of local and individual heavy metal contamination factors against global values showed that the places near the paper mill waste disposal site displayed higher potential risk from metal contamination. Furthermore, the mobility factor related to ecotoxicity of soil environment was found to be metal specific and depended not only on total metal concentration but also on the nature of metal in the order Mn > Cu > Zn.

First Page

2695

Last Page

2708

DOI

10.1007/s13762-017-1350-y

Publication Date

12-1-2017

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