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Distribution of heavy metals in the sediments of Hooghly, Jalangi and Churni river in the regions of Murshidabad and Nadia districts of West Bengal, India

The industrial outburst, widespread uses of pesticides and fertilizers, heavy sewage effluents, domestic trash, and pharmaceutical waste through surface runoff have resulted in large scale increase in metal concentrations in surrounding water bodies. In eco-sensitive areas the scenario is becoming one of the major environmental concerns. The present investigation focused on the metal contents in sediments in three rivers of Nadia and Murshidabad districts (West Bengal, India). For sediments analysis 18 sampling sites were selected from three rivers—Hooghly, Churni and Jalangi. The major physicochemical parameters along with concentrations of six heavy metals, viz., chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), arsenic (As), nickel (Ni), zinc (Zn), and lead (Pb) in the river sediments were analyzed. The physicochemical parameters of the studied river sediments were found to be significantly correlated with each other and also correlated with heavy metals in Hooghly River sediment. The area-specific, certain heavy metal concentrations were observed to be significantly high, which may have adversely affected the concerned aquatic ecosystem. Among the studied three rivers, the Churni river was found to be highly contaminated with heavy metals. It has been identified that the main sources of these heavy metals are municipal sewage and runoff from agricultural fields.