Sediment Quality Assessment of Kavvayi Wetland in South Coast India with Special Reference to Phosphate Fractionation and Heavy Metal Contamination

Abstract

Sediments play an important role in elemental cycling in the aquatic environment; it can be sensitive indicator for monitoring contaminants in aquatic environments. The heavy metal prominence, the amount and different forms of phosphorous present in the surface sediments of Kavvayi Wetland, which is in the south west coast of India was studied and reported in this paper. A total number of 10 surface sediment samples were taken from various regions of Kavvayi Lake and were subjected to heavy metal analysis and also phosphorous fractionation. Phosphorous forms in the sediment samples were determined by the modified sequential extraction procedure and among the inorganic phosphorous pool; Fe and Al bound phosphorous constituted the major portion while the Ca-bound phosphorous constituted the minor part only. Higher concentration of organic phosphorous was also detected in all the samples. The sediment samples were analyzed for heavy metals such as Fe, Mn, Cu, Pb, Cd, Ni, and Zn and the results showed comparatively higher concentration than the background values. The degree of contamination for each station was determined. Sediment pollution load index (PLI) values of the studied area ranged from 0.39 to 2.55 which indicated that the wetland sediments were polluted. Multivariate statistical techniques were applied to evaluate and characterize the analytical data. Spatial distribution maps of phosphorous fractions and heavy metals would help to identify the pollution sources and vulnerable sites.