Ecology, Environment and Conservation Paper

SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF HEAVY METALS IN SURFACE WATERFROM COASTAL AREAS OF ERNAKULAM DISTRICT, KERALA,SOUTH WEST COAST OF INDIA

C.N. Shaginimol, B. Manojkumar and S.Kaliraj

Abstract

The concentration of heavy metals and their spatial distribution in surface waters collected from coastalareas of Ernakulam District, Kerala, India were analyzed for this study. The heavy metals concentrations(Zn, Ni, Cd, cu, and Pb) of samples collected from 8 typical sites were determined by Atomic AbsorptionSpectroscopy. Multivariate statistical analysis method such as Spearman’s correlation coefficient, PCA,and cluster analysis are the methods used for the identification of the heavy metal sources and its relationshipbetween pollutants in surface water. The complete analysis revealed the main source of heavy metalcontamination was due Ni and Cd moderate, very low level by Pb, Zn and Cu. The principal componentanalysis and the correlation analysis showed a positive loading for Ni because of its higher level of pollution.The input for the heavy metal contamination was mainly the anthropogenic inputs such as municipalwaste water, sewage discharge, aquaculture waste and fishing activities. The findings of this study revealedthe water body is facing the risk of anthropogenic pollution due to heavy metals thereby increasing thetoxicity in the coastal environment and affecting the ecosystem.