Environmental quantification of soil elements in the catchment of hydroelectric reservoirs in India

ABSTRACT

The contamination of inorganic elements in soil is a serious environmental problem,. The aim of the present study is to investigate concentrations of 19 elements in order to access the extent of their contaminations in the surface soil of hydroelectric catchments, Uttarakhand, India. For analysis, 168 soil samples were divided into eight groups according to altitudes. In soil samples, the concentration levels of Cr and Cu were found more than their background and threshold limit. Moreover, the evaluation of geochemical index (I_geo), enrichment factor (EF), and contamination factor (CF) suggests that soil samples were reasonably contaminated and highly enriched in Rb. The pollution load index (PLI) and degree of contamination (Cd) revealed that the presence of contaminations (PLI: 1.44; Cd: 44.94) in the study site might be a possible health risk for local residents. However, the calculation pollution ecological risk index (PERI) suggests low ecological risk (PERI: 77.61) of these elements. The clustering of sampling groups contained two clusters: the first cluster comprised F1 and F4 while the second cluster consists of the rest of the sampling group. Multivariate statistical analysis revealed that the variation in concentrations of the elements might be a result of agricultural activities and pedological processes.

KEYWORDS:

• soil contamination
• ecological risk
• pollution indices
• health
• trace metal

Acknowledgments

Authors are also highly thankful to Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF), Uttarakhand, for giving permission to carryout work in the Tehri Garhwal and Uttarkashi forest divisions.