Apportionment and Environmental Risk Assessment of Potentially Toxic Elements in Chodha Lake Core Sediments, Korba Region, Central India.

Abstract

The Chodha Lake sediment core of Korba district, Chhattisgarh was investigated for 10 potentially toxic elements to asses metal pollution, their sources, past apportionment and eco-environmental risks. Geochemical analysis was performed with the help of X-ray Fluorescence spectrometer. The discrete sources of the potentially toxic elements were distinguished mainly using principal component analysis and factor analysis. The core sediments show elevated concentrations of Potentially toxic elements, with notable enrichment in Fe, Cr, Mn and Co, while Cu, V, Zn and Ni also exhibit relatively high levels. Cu, V, Pb, and Cr pollution was mainly related to the adjoining coal productions, particularly burning of coal and associated fly ash. The contamination of Mn and Fe may be attributable to coal mine tailings and allied rock fragments. On the contrary, Al, Ni and Zn indicate their geogenic origin derived largely from the weathering and erosion of soils of the study region. The various levels of contamination are interpreted based on the pollution indices. Most of the elements indicated their moderate enrichment in the sediment core, whereas moderate to substantial levels of contamination was exhibited by Fe and excessive contamination by Cobalt. The moderate to substantial degree of pollution based on the Index of geo-accumulation was revealed by Fe, Zn and Mn. However, all the core sediments confirm the consistent low potential ecological risk to aquatic life.