Anthropogenic effect on heavy metal contents in surface sediments of the Bengal Basin river system, Bangladesh

• DOI: 10.1007/s11356-020-08470-4
• Publication Date: 2020-03-27T03:03:50Z
• Authors: Md Hafijur Rahama...; Jianguo Liu; Shengfa Liu; Jingrui Li; Li Cao; Ananna Rahman
• Keywords: Bangladesh; Geologic Sediments; Rivers; 13. Climate action; Metals, Heavy; 11. Sustainability; 01 natural sciences; Water Pollutants, Chemical; 6. Clean water; Environmental Monitoring; 0105 earth and related environmental sciences

Heavy metals (Sc, Cr, Co, Ni, Cu, Ga, Ge, Nb, Mo, Cd, In, Hf, Ta, W, Tl, Pb, Bi, Th, and U) in the surface sediments of the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna (GBM) river system of the Bengal Basin (BB) were measured to evaluate the heavy metal contamination and anthropogenic influence. The average concentration levels of most of the heavy metals (except Mo and Tl) were above the average crustal and shale values. Contamination indices, including the contamination factor, pollution load index, enrichment factor, and geo-accumulation index, and multivariate statistical analyses indicated that the GBM is slightly polluted by heavy metals with some considerable pollution from Bi, Th, Ta, Cd, Nb, Pb, In, and U. Among the four individual rivers, the Brahmaputra River and Ganges-Brahmaputra (GB) confluence river sediments contain higher heavy metal concentrations than do the Ganges and Meghna Rivers, which may be caused by the effects of local municipal discharge, industrial or urban wastes, and ferry crossing activities.