Toxicity and source identification of pollutants in an urban river in Bangladesh

• Published in: Environmental Earth Sciences Vol. 82; no. 6; p. 140
• Main Authors: Islam, M. Shahidul, Nakagawa, Kei, Abdullah-Al-Mamun, M., Siddique, Md. Abu Bakar, Berndtsson, Ronny
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Science and Business Media LLC 01.03.2023; Springer Berlin Heidelberg; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Agricultural runoff; Agricultural wastes; Anthropogenic factors; Aquatic ecosystems; Bangladesh; Biogeosciences; boats; Cadmium; Civil Engineering; Cluster analysis; Cobalt; Copper; Developing countries; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; Engineering and Technology; Environmental Science and Engineering; Fluvial sediments; Geochemistry; Geology; Heavy metals; human health; Hydrology/Water Resources; Industrial wastes; Industrial wastewater; Industrialization; Iron; LDCs; Lead; Manganese; Metals; Multivariate analysis; Municipal wastewater; Nickel; Original Article; Physiochemistry; Pollutant identification; Pollutants; pollution; Pollution sources; Principal components analysis; Quality indices; Rivers; Runoff; Samhällsbyggnadsteknik; Sediment; Sediments; Spatial distribution; Storm runoff; Stormwater; Stormwater management; Stormwater runoff; Teknik; Terrestrial Pollution; Toxicity; traffic; Urban river pollution; Vattenteknik; Wastewater; Wastewater treatment; Water Engineering; Water pollution; Water quality; Water supply; Zinc; Bangladesh; Urban river pollution; Water pollution; Sediment; Multivariate analysis; Water supply; Quality indices
• DOI: 10.1007/s12665-023-10812-7
• ISSN: 1866-6280; 1866-6299

Urban rivers in Asian developing countries are becoming increasingly polluted due to industrialization and lacking treatment of wastewater. We investigated toxicity and likely sources of pollutants for the urban Shitalakshaya River, Bangladesh. Physiochemical variables and heavy metals were examined in water and sediment of an urban river section in Narayanganj City. The spatial distribution of quality indices and cluster groups indicates that the river’s downstream urban-affected areas are the most contaminated. Water and sediment quality guidelines indicate that COD, TSS, Fe, Pb, Zn in water, and Pb, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, and particularly Pb and Cu in sediment, pose a serious threat to the aquatic ecosystem and human health in the area. Correlation, principal component (PCA), and cluster analysis (CA) indicate that the sources of Mn and Cd are geogenic, COD, TSS, Pb, Zn, Cu anthropogenic, and Fe, Ni, Co both geogenic and anthropogenic. The main anthropogenic pollution sources of the study area are municipal and industrial wastewater, boat and car traffic, runoff from agricultural areas, and stormwater runoff.