REVIEW ON HEAVY AND TRACE METAL STUDIES IN VEMBANAD LAKE ECOSYSTEM: SPECIAL REFERENCE TO COCHIN BACKWATERS
SUMA M. ABRAHAM
Department of Zoology, St. Berchman’s College, Changanacherry, Kottayam, Kerala, India.
CHINNU SHAJI
Department of Zoology, St. Berchman’s College, Changanacherry, Kottayam, Kerala, India.
PRIYA JOSEPH
Department of Zoology, Deva Matha College, Kuravilangad, Kottayam, Kerala, India.
JOE PRASAD MATHEW *
Department of Zoology, St. Berchman’s College, Changanacherry, Kottayam, Kerala, India.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Vembanad Lake is facing gross pollution problem mainly due to the release of untreated effluents from industries and domestic sectors. The increasing concentrations of pesticides, heavy metals and trace metals in Vembanad Lake reached hazardous levels, which may cause major health risk to humans through the trophic transfer. In this review paper, a sincere effort is made to bring forward the various studies on heavy and trace metals, conducted in the Vembanad Lake especially in Cochin backwater system, by various researchers during the past few decades. A number of metals are present in higher concentrations in various areas of the estuarine region.Copper (Cu), Zinc (Zn), Lead (Pb) and Mercury (Hg) are the most reporting metals from the backwater system. Selenium (Se) and Nickel (Ni) are the least found trace metals.
Keywords: Trace metals, heavy metals, trophic transfer, pollution, Vembanad Lake, Cochin estuary