HEAVY METAL CONTENTS IN WATERS AND FISH (Etroplus maculatus) OF LAKE VATTAKAYAL, CHAVARA, KOLLAM, KERALA

Abstract

In the last few decades many areas of India have been undergone intensive industrial progress and urban development. Most of the lakes in tropical region of India face severe effect of heavy metal pollution, as a consequence of industrial revolution and urban agglomeration, all have serious detrimental impact on people and ecosystems those who rely on such bodies of water. Vattakayal lake system was one of the most productive ecosystems of Kerala, now became heavily polluted due to the effluents from KMML (The Kerala Minerals and Metals Limited). Titanium dioxide pigment plant at Sankaramangalam pose grave environmental problems, affecting the biota directly or indirectly. In this study, water (both surface and bottom) and fish (Etroplus maculatus) samples were seasonally analyzed for determining the concentration of metals such as zinc, copper, cadmium, lead, manganese and nickel. The result showed that the sites of the lake, near the industrial area were more contaminated with the metals than the sites of non-industrial area. An increasing trend of metal concentration was observed in the bottom water than surface water. The physico-chemical parameters such as temperature, pH and salinity were also analyzed to understand the metal accumulation in water body. The prevailing conditions of temperature, pH and salinity in Vattakayal lake waters have indicated the enhanced rate of accumulation of metals. In Etroplus maculates, the metals accumulated in different organs. Zinc, copper and cadmium accumulated maximum in the liver while lead and manganese accumulated maximum in the gills and kidney accumulated nickel more than other body parts.