Abstract :
[en] Hooghly estuary and coastal environment in north east coast of India has been strongly affected by the rapid human settlements, intensive boating and tourist activities, deforestation and ongoing agricultural and aquacultural practices. The present work investigated trace elements (TEs, T-Hg, Al, V, Cr, Fe, Mn, Cu, Zn, Co, Ni, Ca, Sr, Li, Be, P, Mo, Ag, Cd, Sn, Sb, Ba, Pb, Bi, U, As, Se) and organohalogen compounds in surface sediment (top 0-10cm) considering 8 sampling sites along the Hugli River Estuary (HRE), India. The studied organic compounds include polychlorobiphenyls (PCBs), hexachlorocyclohexane isomers (HCHs), dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane and metabolites (DDTs) and polybromodiphenyl ethers (PBDEs). Textural analyses of the sediment reveal an overall dominance of mud. All trace elements could be detected at variable concentrations in the following descending order: Al>Fe>Ca> P>Mn> Cu> Zn> Ba >V >Cr>Sr>Ni> Li >Co >Pb>As >Se >U >Be >Sn>Bi >Ag >Mo >Cd >Sb. A synchronous enrichment of majority of the elements were observed at the site Gangasagar (~100 km south megacity Calcutta), situated at the confluence of Hugli River and Bay of Bengal, which might be attributed to cumulative impact of the physicochemical processes and multiple anthropogenic sources. It is revealed that PCBs and DDTs were the dominant compounds among the organic pollutants accounting concentrations up to 23.5 ng.g-1 and 4.4 ng.g-1 respectively at the site Babughat, adjacent to the megacity Calcutta. The results have implications for pollution in complex estuarine environment in a meso-macrotidal setup where there is significant influx of sediments carrying huge load of inorganic and organic pollutants mainly due to rapid urbanization and industrialization.
