Bull Environ Contam Toxicol (2012) 88:876–879

DOI 10.1007/s00128-012-0614-y

Trace Element Concentration in Groundwater, Tuticorin City,

Tamil Nadu, India
S. Krishna Kumar • N. S. Magesh • N. Chandrasekar

Received: 22 November 2011 / Accepted: 19 March 2012 / Published online: 6 April 2012
Ó Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2012

Abstract The aim of the present study is to investigate the to activate vital functions and biological processes. But the
pollution vulnerability of groundwater aquifers in the coastal trace element beyond the permissible limit can cause several
regions of Tuticorin city, Tamil Nadu, India. Fourteen sam- health hazards (WHO 1984). Tuticorin lies between 8°390
ples were analyzed to determine the concentration of trace and 8°510 N latitude and 78°570 and 78°120 E longitude in the
elements (Pb, Zn, Cd, Hg, Cr and Cu) in the groundwater. state of Tamil Nadu, India (Fig. 1). The study area spreads a
Among the total samples six were collected from industrial geographical area of 358 km2. This area has a subtropical
areas and eight from non-industrial areas of Tuticorin city. climate with medium evaporation (*200 cm year-1).
The concentration of trace element ranges from 0.01 to During the past three decades there has been a dramatic surge
0.19 mg/kg-1 for Pb, from 0.01 to 0.16 mg/kg-1 for Zn, from in industrial development on the coast due to the establish-
BDL to 0.21 mg/kg-1 for Cd, from BDL (Below Detection ment of a number of large scale industries including thermal
Limit) to 0.023 mg/kg-1 for Hg, from 0.02 to 0.18 mg/kg-1 power plant, fertilizer, chemical and mineral processing
for Cr and from 0.01 to 0.16 mg/kg-1 for Cu. The trace ele- plants, textile mills, match factories and nearly 500 small
ment concentration in groundwater is higher than the WHO scale industries. A large number of researchers have also
suggested maximum permissible limit except Zn and Cu. worked on trace element contents of groundwater in Indian
subcontinent and along its coastal area (Ramesh et al. 1995;
Keywords Trace elements  Groundwater  Das 2003; Mandal and Sengupta 2006; Puthiyasekar et al.
Pollution vulnerability  Tuticorin city 2010; Krishna Kumar et al. 2011). This paper provides
comparative data (industrial and non-industrial) on metal
contamination resulting from the activities of heavy indus-
Trace elements are contributed to groundwater from a tries situated around city.
variety of natural and anthropogenic sources (Abollino et al.
2004; Leung and Jiao 2006). Some of the trace elements like
Fe, Mn, Ni, Cu, Zn, and As are essential for the human body Materials and Methods

Groundwater samples were collected from fourteen repre-

Present Address: sentative wells in industrial and non-industrial areas of
S. Krishna Kumar  N. S. Magesh  N. Chandrasekar
coastal tracts of Tuticorin city. The water samples were
Centre for GeoTechnology, Manonmaniam Sundaranar
University, Tirunelveli 627 012, Tamil Nadu, India collected in pre-cleaned (with 1 N HCl) Polyethylene
e-mail: [email protected] bottles which are filtered, acidified with nitric acid (1 N)
N. Chandrasekar and stored at 10°C for further laboratory analysis. The trace
e-mail: [email protected] element analysis (Pb, Zn, Cd, Hg, Cr and Cu) were per-
formed by IRIS INTREPID II XSP-Thermo Electron
S. Krishna Kumar (&)
Corporation model with Induced Coupled Plasma Atomic
Department of Civil Engineering, St.Peters University, Avadi,
Chennai 600 055, Tamil Nadu, India Emission Spectrophotometer. The detection limits of trace
e-mail: [email protected] elements were 0.01 mg/kg-1 for Cu, Cr, Zn, Cd, 0.001 mg/

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Bull Environ Contam Toxicol (2012) 88:876–879 877

Fig. 1 Location map of the

study area and sampling points
of groundwater

kg-1 for Hg and 0.05 mg/kg-1 for Pb. The analytical with an average value of 0.071 mg/kg-1. In few locations,
procedures are as suggested by American Public Health the concentration of Pb in groundwater samples is higher
Association (APHA 1995). than the WHO standards. The lead containing untreated
industrial waste water can rapidly forms complexes with
humic substances and it will affect the solubility of lead in
Results and Discussion waste waters. Higher concentration of lead has adverse
effect on central nervous system, blood cells and may
The concentration of trace elements in groundwater is cause brain damage (Lars 2003). The lead contamination is
helpful to monitor the terrestrial anthropogenic pollutions. probably from petrochemical industries and metal smelting
The concentration of Pb ranges from 0.01 to 0.19 mg/kg-1 units. The concentration of Zn ranges from 0.01 to

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878 Bull Environ Contam Toxicol (2012) 88:876–879

Fig. 2 Trace element concentration compared with WHO standard (1984)

0.16 mg/kg-1 with an average of 0.061 mg/kg-1. The higher than the WHO suggested maximum permissible
concentration of Cu and Zn are very low compared to limit in industrial areas. The trace element concentration
WHO standard in all the sampling locations. The concen- compared with World Health Organization (WHO) stan-
tration of Cd ranges from BDL (Below Detection Limit) to dard (1984; Fig. 2). The trace element concentration is
0.21 mg/kg-1. The severe contamination of Cd gives raise higher in industrial areas when compared to other sample
to itai–itai disease (Yosumura et al. 1980). The Cd con- locations of Tuticorin city.
centration is higher than the WHO maximum permissible Statistical analysis was carried out using SPSS software
limit of 0.003 mg/kg-1 in all the samples. The cadmium package for the metal concentration to detect the difference
content is possibly derived from smelting, electroplating between the ground water samples. The correlation matrix
and pigment industries. The concentration of Hg ranges of metal ions was presented in Table 1. Pb, Zn, Cd, Hg, Cr
from BDL to 0.023 mg/kg-1 with an average being and Cu shows good positive factor loading in factor1, Zn,
0.010 mg/kg-1. Mercury contamination can cause severe Cr and Cu have positive factor loading in factor 2 and Hg
neurological, kidney and brain damages. The Cr and Cu and Cr have positive factor loading in factor 3 (Fig. 3). The
concentration ranges from 0.02 to 0.18 mg/kg-1 and 0.01 extracted factor loading clearly suggest that the trace ele-
to 0.16 mg/kg-1 with an average concentration of 0.085 ment concentration is most probably contributed from
and 0.079 mg/kg-1 respectively. The Cr concentration is anthropogenic sources.

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Bull Environ Contam Toxicol (2012) 88:876–879 879

Table 1 Correlation coefficient

Parameters Pb Zn Cd Hg Cr Cu
matrix (r2) of trace elements in
groundwater Pb 1.000
Zn 0.936 1.000
Cd 0.966 0.931 1.000
Hg 0.958 0.95 0.985 1.000
Cr 0.889 0.922 0.913 0.955 1.000
Cu 0.909 0.95 0.912 0.921 0.892 1.000

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