The Science of the Total Environment 227 Ž1999.

175]185

Determination of lead and other metals in a residential

area of greater Calcutta

Amit ChatterjeeU , R.N. Banerjee

Department of Chemistry, Jada¨ pur Uni¨ ersity, Jada¨ pur, India

Received 15 September 1998; accepted 14 January 1999

Abstract

The aim of the study was to determine the major source and extent of metal pollution in a residential area of
Greater Calcutta. In this area approximately 50 000 people reside in the vicinity of a lead factory that produces lead
ingots and lead alloys. Many people, especially children, are affected by lead toxicity. Soils, waters, road dust, leaf
dust, leaves and pond sediments were sampled in and around the factory area. Aliquots of the samples were
mineralized with nitric acid and hydrogen peroxide in a microwave system. Lead and 19 other elements were
quantified in the digests by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. The performance of the procedure was
confirmed by analyzing NBS-BCR standard reference soil, leaves, sediment samples. The soils are highly contami-
nated not only with lead Ž4.7%., but also with Cd Ž0.08%., Ag Ž0.001%., Cu Ž0.02%., Zn Ž1.0%., As Ž1.0%., Mo
Ž0.003%., Sn Ž0.003%. and Hg Ž0.03%. Žmetal concentrations given in parentheses are maximum.. Moving away from
the smelter, most of metal concentrations, especially Pb, As, Mo, Cu, Hg, Zn, Cd, Sn and Ag, decreased
exponentially over increasing distance. In the residential areas near the smelter, notably to the west side of the
factory, metal concentrations significantly breached the threshold trigger values set in India by the Central Pollution
Control Board ŽCPCB.. Particulate materials from the smelter stack appear to contaminate soils up to at least 0.5
km. However, abnormally high metal levels in the immediate smelter area may be due to primarily fugitive emissions.
The surface waters are only contaminated by arsenic ranges from 0.05 to 13.5 mgrl, but the ground water is currently
not polluted by lead and arsenic. An appropriate treatment plant with some intervention measures should be taken
to save the locality. Q 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Metals; ICP-MS; Microwave; Lead; Smelter

U
Corresponding author. Environmental Chemodynamics Section, Environmental Chemistry Division, National Institute for Envi-
ronmental Studies, 16-2 Onogawa, Tsukuba, Ibaraki-3050053, Japan. Tel.: q81-298-502450; fax: q81-298-502574; e-mail: amit.chat-
terje@nies.go.jp

0048-9697r99r$ - see front matter Q 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 0 4 8 - 9 6 9 7 Ž 9 9 . 0 0 0 2 6 - 1
176 A. Chatterjee, R.N. Banerjee r The Science of the Total En¨ ironment 227 (1999) 175]185

1. Introduction been found to exhibit little mobility down the soil

profile ŽLittle and Martin, 1972; Rolfe and Jen-
Exposure to lead is hazardous to humans, par- nett, 1975; Brown et al., 1985; Rieuwerts and
ticularly to children with their immature neuro- Farago, 1996.. Epidemiological studies have
logical system ŽHamester et al., 1994; Howden et recorded high levels of lead and cadmium in the
al., 1996.. Reduced cognitive development and blood and urine of those living close to lead
impaired intellectual performance of children smelters, particularly children ŽFarago, 1979;
ŽOskarson et al., 1995. has been linked to lead Roels et al., 1980; Landrigan and Baker, 1981;
exposure. Lead is readily transported across the Carvalho et al., 1989; Maravelies et al., 1989;
placenta to the fetus and in human milk to in- Silvany-Neto et al., 1989..
fants ŽRabinowitz et al., 1985.. Lead was identi- The present study is centered on Calcutta, an
fied as one of the most commonly occurring con- historic well-known city and considered one of
taminants ŽHafen and Brinkmann, 1996.. Lead the most polluted cities in the world ŽChatterjee
mines, primary and secondary lead smelters, and et al., 1993.. Calcutta lies on the eastern bank of
battery-recycling plants discharge lead to the air, the river Hoogly and situated in the Ganges delta
to surface waters, and to groundwater ŽSmall et approximately 100 km from the sea ŽFig. 1.. Within
al., 1995.. Airborne, lead-containing particles are the 104 km2 of the city area, 11 500 small and
ultimately deposited on soils. In residential areas, large factories are located. In and around Cal-
exposure to lead from soils occurs directly through cutta, 42 factories produce lead alloys and lead
inhalation or ingestion of dust during gardening ingots ŽFig. 1.. A few hundred thousand people
activities or childhood play. Inhaled and ingested live in the vicinity of these factories.
lead is transferred into the blood and body tissues To assess the degree of pollution with metals,
ŽUS EPA, 1986; Wixson and Davies, 1994.. especially with lead, and the sourceŽs. of contami-
Mercury, arsenic, cadmium, silver and zinc are nation in a Calcutta neighborhood adjoining a
also well-known potential toxic elements lead factory, soil, dusts from the roads and from
ŽSamanta, 1996.. These elements contaminate the leaves on trees, pond sediments, and water were
environment during lead smelting ŽTemple et al., collected. The lead and 19 other elements were
1977; Hemphill and Clevenger, 1979; Landrigan quantified in these samples by ICP-MS after mi-
and Baker, 1981; Carvalho et al., 1989; Mar- crowave digestion.
avelies et al., 1989; Kalac et al., 1991; Rieuwerts The lead factory ŽFig. 2., occupying an area of
and Farago, 1995, 1996. as all are associated with 4045 m2 , has produced 350 metric tons of lead
lead ore. It has been established that populations ingots and lead alloys per month for the last 25
exposed to these elements developed alterations years. It has a chimney of 18 m which chimney
in their nervous system functions, with neurophys- could not be raised beyond 18 m, as the airport is
iological consequences constituting a severe close and directly affected by the chimney. Al-
health hazard ŽLandrigan and Baker, 1981; US though the factory has some emission control
EPA, 1986; Chatterjee et al., 1993; Samanta, 1996; devices, they are far from adequate to control the
Olivero and Solano, 1998.. A significant increase contamination. At present, 50 000 people are liv-
in soil-metal concentrations in the vicinity of lead ing Žwithin a 3-km circle. in and around the
smelters was found by several researchers ŽLittle factory and this population is increasing day by
and Martin, 1972; Roberts et al., 1974; Linzon et day. A group of the population Ž5.0%., notably
al., 1976; Temple et al., 1977; Bisessar, 1982; the children, have already been affected by lead
Farago and Connell, 1983; Rieuwerts and Farago, and other toxic metals pollution.
1996.. Such increases have been attributed to
emissions from both smelter stacks and fugitive 2. Experimental
sources such as stockpiles and waste heaps ŽRolfe
and Jennett, 1975; Rieuwerts and Farago, 1996.. A microwave digestion system ŽMLS 1200
Smelter-emitted lead and other elements have Mega. from Milestone, Leutkirch, Germany, with
 A. Chatterjee, R.N. Banerjee r The Science of the Total En¨ ironment 227 (1999) 175]185 177

Fig. 1. Lead factories in and around Calcutta city.

a rotor for six Teflon digestion vessels designed be substituted for one of the six vessels. The
for pressures up to 60 bar served as the closed- temperature and the pressure data are displayed
pressurized microwave system. The vessels are on the instrument and can be stored and visual-
equipped with a pressure-release system. A spe- ized with a dedicated computer and software. The
cially-designed vessel that allows a temperature magnetron mounted on the ceiling of the mi-
sensor and a pressure sensor to be connected and crowave oven can operate at powers of 250 or
the progress of the digestion to be monitored, can 1000 W. The 1000 W stage can be pulsed to
178 A. Chatterjee, R.N. Banerjee r The Science of the Total En¨ ironment 227 (1999) 175]185

Fig. 2. Sampling sites surrounding the study lead factory.

deliver time-averaged power in 10-W steps in the Ba, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Mg, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, Rb, Sr,
range from 10 to 990 W. Tl, V with concentrations of 10 mgrl, As, Fe, Se,
Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometric Zn with 100 mgrl, and Ca 1000 mgrl Ž10580 ICP
measurements were performed with a VG Plas- Multi Element Standard VI E. Merck VI, No.
maQuad Turbo Plus ŽVG Elemental Ltd, Win- 1.10580.0100 Darmstadt, Germany. has been used
ford, UK. equipped with a Meinhard concentric for the standard solutions preparations of ICP-MS
glass nebulizer type TR-30-A3, a double-pass, ŽStandard 1.. By combination and appropriate
Scott-type spray chamber Žwater cooled, 08C., and dilution of aliquots of stock solutions Ž1000 mgrl
a Gilson Minipuls-3 peristaltic pump. The operat- for Hg, Sn and Sb from each Merck Titrisol
ing conditions for the ICP-MS are: rf power for- ampoules. with nitric acid Ž5%., standard solu-
ward 1.35 kW, reflected - 5 W; argon flows for tions with a concentration of 10 mgrl of each
cooling 13.5 l miny1 , for auxiliary 0.9 l miny1 , for element were obtained ŽStandard 2.. A solution
nebulizer 0.92 l miny1 ; nebulizer uptake ; 1.0 ml containing In Žin HNO3 . at a concentration of 10
miny1 ; sample cone, nickel, orifice 1.0 mm diame- mgrl was prepared from 1000 mgrl ŽE. Merck,
ter; skimmer cone, nickel, orifice 0.7 mm diame- D-1600, No. 19504.05 Darmstadt, Germany. by
ter. appropriate dilution with nitric acid Ž5%. ŽStan-
dard 3.. Aliquots of Standard 1 and Standard 2
2.1. Reagents and solutions solutions were diluted with nitric acid Ž5%. to
produce standard solutions of: 5, 10 and 20 m grl
each of Hg and Sn; 1000, 5000 and 10 000 m grl of
Multi-element stock solution containing Ag, Al,
 A. Chatterjee, R.N. Banerjee r The Science of the Total En¨ ironment 227 (1999) 175]185 179

Ca; and 10, 50 and 100 m grl each of Mg, Fe, Rb, the leaves into a plastic bag. The dusts were dried
Sr, V, Mn, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Mo, Pb, As, Cd, Ba, Cr at 608C for 24 h and passed through a 30-mesh
and Ag. Before the volumetric flasks were filled sieve.
to the mark, aliquots of Standard 3 were added to Water from nine tubewells used for drinking
achieve a final concentration of 100 m g Inrl in and water from the three ponds was collected as
each solution. The calibration curves were es- described previously ŽChatterjee et al., 1993..
tablished with these most dilute solutions contain-
ing In spikes that are needed for the internal 2.2.2. Digestion
calibration of the ICP-MS response. An aliquot Ž; 0.20 g. of the dry, finely powdered
The digestions were carried out with high pu- solid was weighed into a dry, clean Teflon diges-
rity hydrogen peroxide Ž30% Suprapur, Merck, tion vessel. Concentrated nitric acid Ž5.00 ml. and
No.7298. and concentrated nitric acid ŽMerck p.a., hydrogen peroxide Ž1.00 ml. were added. The
purified by sub-boiling distillation.. vessel was closed, placed into the rotor, and tight-
All glassware was cleaned by soaking for 24 h ened. The loaded rotor was placed into the mi-
in concentrated nitric acid, followed by rinsing crowave oven. The digestion was carried out with
three times with high resistivity water Ž18 MV the following program: 250 W for 2 min; 0 W for
cm, Barnstead, NANOpure; Boston, USA.. 0.5 min; 250 W for 10 min; 0 W for 0.5 min; 450
Montana Soil SRM-2710, San Joaquin Soil, W for 5 min; 0 W for 0.5 min; 600 W for 5 min;
SRM-2709 from the National Institute of Stan- and 500 W for 7 min. The vessels were cooled and
dards and Technology ŽGaithersburg, Maryland, carefully opened. Each digest was transferred
USA., Sewage Sludge BCR No. 144 and Olive quantitatively to a 100-ml volumetric flask. Before
Leaves BCR No. 062 from the Commission of the volumetric flasks were filled to the mark, an
European Communities served as standard refer- aliquot of the standard In solution was added to
ence materials. achieve a final concentration of 100 m g Inrl.
These solutions were analyzed by ICP-MS. The
2.2. Methods Standard Reference Materials were digested un-
der the same conditions.
2.2.1. Sample collection
Soils ŽS1 ]S12 ., pond sediments ŽT1 ]T3 ., leaves 3. Results and discussion
ŽL., road dust ŽRD., dust from leaves ŽLD., and
water ŽW1 ]W12 . were collected during April 1996 3.1. Soils, sediments, dusts and lea¨ es
in a residential area of Calcutta located 20 km
northwest of downtown. The lead factory oper- 3.1.1. Extent of contamination
ates in this area. The sampling sites surrounding The analytical results for 12 soil samples
the factory are identified in Fig. 2. Soils were ŽS1 ]S12 : S1 ]S 3 in the west; S 4 ]S6 in the north;
collected with a Teflon knife after scraping away S 7 ]S 9 in the east; and S10 ]S12 in the south.,
the top 0.5 cm. The soil samples were placed in three sediments from ponds ŽPond 1, Pond 2 and
plastic bags. The sediments T1 and T2 came from Pond 3 in Fig. 2., road dust ŽRD., leaf dust ŽLD.
ponds used by people for bathing, supplementary and leaves ŽL. are summarized in Tables 1 and 2.
household water and pisciculture. Sediment T3 To check whether our analytical results agree
came from a pond close to the factory that is not with standard reference materials, the standard
used by the local people. Soils and sediments reference samples ŽSoils SRM-2709, 2710, Sedi-
were dried at 808C for 24 h, manually ground to a ment BCR-144, Leaves BCR-062., were analyzed
fine powder with a mortar and passed through a after utilizing the same digestion and analytical
30-mesh sieve ŽChatterjee et al., 1993.. procedure as that of samples. Obtained values are
The road dust Ž; 20 g. was collected by gently in good agreement with certified value ŽTable 3..
sweeping the road with a soft plastic brush. Dust The concentration of Pb, As, Cd, Hg, Ag, Sn,
from leaves Ž; 1 g. was brushed from the top of Mo, Zn and Cu in topsoils are higher than the
 180

Table 1
Metal concentrations in soil samples by ICP-MS Žmgrkg.

Element S1 S2 S3 S4 S5 S6 S7 S8 S9 S10 S11 S12

Mg Ž%. 0.43" 0.01 0.56" 0.01 0.81" 0.01 0.77" 0.03 0.76" 0.02 0.79" 0.05 0.67" 0.02 0.55" 0.05 5.30" 0.07 0.88" 0.02 0.67" 0.03 0.41" 0.06
Ca Ž%. 0.78" 0.02 1.27" 0.05 1.46" 0.06 1.02" 0.03 1.01" 0.02 1.46" 0.03 1.74" 0.10 0.81" 0.02 0.43" 0.01 1.55" 0.05 1.13" 0.06 1.22" 0.04
Fe Ž%. 2.15" 0.11 2.10" 0.19 1.75" 0.16 2.07" 0.18 1.83" 0.18 1.79" 0.11 1.42" 0.09 2.18" 0.12 2.42" 0.12 2.15" 0.05 1.58" 0.08 0.99" 0.03
Rb 47 " 4.7 51 " 4.1 58 " 3.2 59 " 3.6 68 " 6.5 65 " 1.2 47 " 1.8 74 " 5 81 " 6 71 " 3.5 58 " 4.2 30 " 1.2
Sr 76 " 1.4 72 " 2.2 33 " 2.3 27 " 1.2 34 " 2.2 56 " 3.4 64 " 4.0 33 " 3.0 20.5" 1.2 61 " 5.0 44 " 1.2 33 " 1.5
V 43 " 2.0 55 " 3.5 42 " 1.1 55 " 2 52 " 2.4 49 " 2.7 45 " 2.0 46 " 2.0 66 " 5 66 " 3.3 48 " 2.1 29 " 2.3
Mn 360 " 26 650 " 18 381 " 39 620 " 18 469 " 24 475 " 45 524 " 24 494 " 18 511 " 21 530 " 33 407 " 25 266 " 22
Co 10.6" 0.33 12.8" 1.1 10.8" 0.8 13.6" 1.2 11.4" 1.01 11.1 " 0.71 11.3" 0.55 14.3" 1.1 14.4" 0.85 13.3" 0.28 10.5" 0.97 6.59" 0.34
Ni 31 " 1.3 36 " 2.3 26 " 1.2 31 " 1.9 32 " 2.8 28 " 2.8 30 " 3.0 40 " 2.3 36 " 1.9 32 " 1.2 26 " 1.5 16.5" 1.1
Cu 204 " 12 156 " 8.5 32 " 3.0 66 " 4 106 " 8.5 74 " 3 142 " 9 92 " 3 43 " 3 39 " 3.7 81 " 7 17.7" 1.1
Zn 10 300 " 200 4980 " 110 151 " 14 588 " 51 984 " 74 342 " 30 3800 " 321 1305 " 56 180 " 15 182 " 18 175 " 10 90 " 8
Mo 32 " 1.3 17.8" 1.1 0.44" 0.03 1.45" 0.03 3.30" 0.15 1.03" 0.08 10.3" 0.79 4.36" 0.04 0.87" 0.07 0.73" 0.06 0.46" 0.05 0.17" 0.01
Sn 34 " 3.1 19.0" 1.7 1.36" 0.13 4.72" 0.41 8.68" 0.56 2.58" 0.21 23 " 2.2 6.73" 1.01 0.54" 0.02 0.96" 0.07 1.34" 0.10 0.64" 0.06
Pb Ž%. 4.67" 0.21 2.02" 0.11 400 " 20 0.34" 0.03 0.42" 0.02 1000 " 10 a 0.49" 0.02 0.38" 0.02 200 " 10 a 600 " 20 a 632 " 31a 300 " 25a
Cd 833 " 73 296 " 19 3.16" 0.3 30 " 2.3 46 " 3.7 4.65" 0.41 217 " 18 38 " 3.1 0.66" 0.07 3.67" 0.31 2.87" 0.09 1.16" 0.10
As 9740 " 226 4170 " 111 36 " 3.0 360 " 15 406 " 24 75 " 7.2 1103 " 61 396 " 30 33 " 2.8 55 " 2.4 38 " 1.9 17.5" 0.52
Ba 592 " 21 501 " 23 133 " 9 231 " 12 235 " 12 802 " 42 1906 " 91 253 " 17 210 " 15 246 " 16 252 " 12 93 " 9
Hg 277 " 23 101 " 10 2.41" 0.02 11.0" 0.9 6.82" 0.68 0.30" 0.03 3.07" 0.12 2.09" 0.15 0.27" 0.11 0.22" 0.01 bd bd
Cr 33 " 1.4 57 " 2.2 34 " 1.1 37 " 1.3 48 " 1.4 51 " 2.0 37 " 2.1 49 " 2.6 49 " 1.6 48 " 1.9 41 " 2.0 23 " 0.9
Ag 10.0" 0.9 6.36" 0.14 0.16" 0.01 0.49" 0.03 1.41" 0.04 0.13" 0.01 2.18" 0.21 1.63" 0.12 bd 0.14" 0.01 0.63" 0.03 0.44" 0.02
a
Measured in mgrkg.
Note. bd s Below the detection limit.
A. Chatterjee, R.N. Banerjee r The Science of the Total En¨ ironment 227 (1999) 175]185
 A. Chatterjee, R.N. Banerjee r The Science of the Total En¨ ironment 227 (1999) 175]185 181

Table 2
Concentration of metals in road dust ŽRD., leaf dust ŽLD., leaves ŽL. and sediments samples ŽT1 ]T3 . by ICP-MS Žmgrkg.

Element T1 T2 T3 RD LD L

Fe Ž%. 2.69" 0.11 2.01" 0.15 1.94" 0.07 2.67" 0.16 2.18" 0.17 0.38" 0.01
Rb 102 " 3 74 " 2.2 70 " 3.2 90 " 4 36 " 1.6 36 " 1.9
Sr 33 " 2.0 37 " 4.1 26 " 1.3 35 " 1.3 94 " 3 107 " 4
V 96 " 3 61.1" 3.1 49 " 2.3 77 " 6 46 " 4.2 8.3" 0.41
Mn 451 " 27 391 " 21 516 " 23 619 " 35 820 " 73 141 " 11
Co 16.0" 0.85 11.6" 0.41 120 " 6 15.6" 0.42 9.73" 0.31 1.82" 0.03
Ni 49 " 3.6 34 " 0.7 33 " 1.2 42 " 2.3 38 " 0.5 7.16" 0.61
Cu 56 " 3.0 46 " 0.6 793 " 9 44 " 2.1 269 " 15 40 " 3
Zn 145 " 5 176 " 12 2110 " 25 159 " 6 996 " 44 153 " 14
Mo 0.51" 0.02 0.30" 0.01 9.89" 0.92 0.54" 0.04 3.29" 0.03 2.44" 0.14
Sn 0.49" 0.02 2.21" 0.12 12.7" 0.8 0.75 " 0.09 6.35" 0.72 2.14" 0.17
Pb 539 " 6 719 " 10 18 400 " 210 536 " 39 1030 " 51 214 " 17
As 26 " 1.9 50 " 4.6 2460 " 101 23 " 1.9 7.53" 0.61 2.80" 0.19
Cd 1.83" 0.04 5.81" 0.06 111 " 7 3.12" 0.32 1.78" 0.07 0.47" 0.02
Ba 248 " 7 182 " 8 206 " 21 213 " 11 606 " 22 119 " 9
Hg bd 1.16" 0.12 20 " 2.4 1.95" 0.05 1.72" 0.05 1.17" 0.11
Cr 70 " 3.0 45 " 4.1 38 " 2.5 54 " 3.5 97 " 6 16.6" 0.97

Note. bd s Below detection limit.

normal soil wnormal range for lead in soils is 5]50 ŽChatterjee et al., 1993.x and the upper continen-
mgrkg with an average of approximately 20 tal crust ŽWedepohl, 1995.. Metal concentrations
mgrkg ŽSmall et al., 1995.; arsenic 0.1]40 mgrkg in soils among the houses adjacent to the factory

Table 3
Concentration of metals in standard reference samples by ICP-MS after microwave digestion Žmgrkg.

Montana Soil 2710 BCR No. 144a BCR No 062b

Certified Observed Certified Observed Certified Observed

Al Ž%. 1.2]2.6 1.64" 0.03

Ca Ž%. 0.38]0.48 0.42" 0.01
Mg Ž%. 0.43]0.60 0.53" 0.01
Fe Ž%. 2.2]3.2 2.69" 0.07
Sr 94]110 95 " 6
V 37]50 54 " 7.4
Mn 449 " 13 441 " 35 57.0" 2.4 57.8" 3.5
Co 6.3]12 7.3" 0.43 9.06" 0.60 9.21" 0.11
Ni 8.8]15 12.6" 0.22 942 " 22 895 " 63
Cu 2400]3400 2860 " 37 713 " 26 714 " 12 46.6" 1.8 44.9" 2.9
Zn 5200]6900 6804 " 41 3143 " 103 3296 " 214 16.0" 0.7 18.6" 1.8
Mo 13]27 15.1" 0.9
Pb 4300]7000 4550 " 121 495 " 19 471 " 14 25.0" 1.5 24.6" 3.1
As 490]600 586 " 26
Cd 13]26 19.9" 0.6 4.82" 0.97 4.65" 0.04 0.10" 0.02 0.08" 0.02
Ba 300]400 327 " 31
Hg 27]32 32 " 0.4 1.49" 0.22 1.39" 0.16 0.28" 0.02 0.25" 0.02
Tl 0.50]0.76 0.89" 0.18
Cr 15]23 39 " 5.2
Ag 24]30 24.7" 1.1
a
Trace elements in a sewage sludge.
b
Trace elements in olive leaves Ž Olea europaea..
182 A. Chatterjee, R.N. Banerjee r The Science of the Total En¨ ironment 227 (1999) 175]185

are abnormally elevated. The results of metal 46 700 mg Pbrkg, 9740 mg Asrkg, 204 mg Curkg,
analyses confirmed a high contamination by Pb, 277 mg Hgrkg, 10 mg Agrkg, 34 mg Snrkg, 32
As, Cd, Hg, Ag, Zn, and some other elements mg Morkg, 10 300 mg Znrkg and 833 mg Cdrkgx.
near the smelter and the surrounding area. Soils, The concentration of heavy metals in S 2 shows
particularly in the houses of the western side of the same trend as S1. The diffusion patterns of
the factory, are highly contaminated wsoil S1 col- the elements in all four directions were investi-
lected near the west factory wall, approximately gated. The concentration of metals with distance
1.5 m away from the stack ŽFigs. 1 and 2. contains in each direction has been presented in Table 1.

Fig. 3. Distribution pattern of Pb, As, Cd, Hg, and Zn, with distance in each direction around the lead factory.
 A. Chatterjee, R.N. Banerjee r The Science of the Total En¨ ironment 227 (1999) 175]185 183

The concentrations of some of the elements Žar- larly carried out from 18.00 h to 06.00 h and the
senic, lead, mercury, cadmium and zinc. in each maximum effluent is released during this time.
direction are also plotted with increasing distance Due to the very low chimney height, the lead and
ŽFig. 3a]d.. There is no trend of regular distribu- other dust particulates emitted are unable to dif-
tion of metals concentration with increasing dis- fuse over wide angles. In winter the low-level
tance. Indeed, the concentrations of most of the temperature inversion, with morning fog and
metals were highest near the smelter and de- evening mist, also prevents the dispersion of the
creased immediately beyond the chimney. A dis- dust particulates. The particulates are locally de-
tinct peak in Pb, As, Hg, Ag, Cd, Sn, Mo, Zn and posited in the soil, on the leaves and on roads. So
Cu concentrations ŽTable 1. occurred in the vicin- the soils, road dust, and leaf dust surrounding the
ity of the smelter and decreased exponentially vicinity of the plant and near the chimney are
with distance from the smelter. In the west direc- unusually contaminated ŽTables 1 and 2.. The
tion to the factory, Pb, As, Zn, Cu, Hg, Cd, Sn, other potential sources of metals contamination
Ag and Mo had the highest value near the smelter in the study area are traffic emissions Žmoderate
of the factory wall Ž; 1.5 m. and then decreased to low traffic density during daytime., agricultural
gradually with increasing distance up to 500 m. In chemicals and solid fuel combustion. The abnor-
the south, the metal concentrations ŽCd, As, Hg, mal variation of metal concentrations on the west
Mo and Zn. decreased gradually with distance, side may be due to the chimney stack being
but Pb remained the same up to 250 m then situated on that side, as the wind blows from east
decreased with increasing distance. The concen- to west round the year, especially in winter when
tration of Sn, Mo, Ag and Cu increased up to 250 it blows from the north-west with an average
m then decreased gradually up to 500 m. In the speed of 25 kmrh, transporting the particulates
east direction, the Pb, Hg, Sn, Cd, As, Zn, Ag, Mo ceaselessly from the chimney towards the west.
and Cu concentrations decreased with increasing
distance. In the north of the factory, Pb, Cd, Sn, 3.1.3. Water
Ag, As, Zn, Mo and Cu concentrations increased The 12 water samples Žnine tube-wells and
up to 250 m then decreased, but the concentra- three ponds. were analyzed for arsenic, lead and
tion of Hg increased with distance. The concen- some other parameters to know the water quality
trations of metals in the west direction are excep- and extent of arsenic and lead contamination in
tionally high for Pb, As, Cd, Zn, Ag and Hg, surface and groundwater. Lead in water was de-
compared to the other three sites. termined by FI-HG-AAS. The EPA standard
procedures were used for determination of other
3.1.2. Sources of contamination parameters. Table 4 showed the results. The ar-
There were significant correlations between the senic was only found in pond waters Ž0.05, 0.07
metals analyzed ŽAs, Sn, Mo, Hg, Cd and Zn have and 13.5 mgrl.. The small pond ŽPond 3. con-
a distinct positive correlation with lead.. This, tained a very high concentration of arsenic Ž13.5
together with the general decrease of the metals mgrl. and its sediment ŽT3 . contained not only
with distance from the smelter, suggests a com- very high concentrations of lead Ž1.8%. and ar-
mon emission source } most probably the senic Ž0.25%., but also of other toxic metals ŽTa-
smelter stack } influencing the whole study area. ble 2.. Some of the effluent of the factory Žwaste
The very high values of Pb, Zn, As, Hg, Cd, Ag, water which is highly contaminated with lead,
and moderately high values of Cu, Mo and Sn arsenic and other metals. passes into Pond 3 and
may be caused by relatively high fugitive emis- intensifies the metal concentrations in its water
sions of these elements andror heavy particulates and sediment. Arsenic in other pond waters might
from the stack. These appear to be the most be due to leaching from the contaminated soil by
significant sources of the above elements, which rainwater. All tubewell waters contain arsenic
have accumulated in the topsoils in the smelter and lead at - 10.0 m grl, the WHO recom-
area. The smelting operation of the plant is regu- mended value.
184 A. Chatterjee, R.N. Banerjee r The Science of the Total En¨ ironment 227 (1999) 175]185

Table 4 Analysis of associations between metals at each

Results of some physico-chemical parameters in ground
sampling site suggests that a single source, the
waters collected around the lead factory
smelter stack, contaminated the whole study area.
Parameters Range Within the vicinity of the smelter, the high metal
concentrations in soils may be due to fugitive
Salinity 0.15]1.5%
stack emitted particulates from the chimney. From
Conductance 900]2500 m MHO
pH 7.08]10.5 the clinical investigation it was also found that
the children of the study area are more affected
Range of conc. Ž m grml. because part of their normal behavior includes
SO4y2 55]259 hand to mouth contamination through thumb-
Phosphate 0.5]10.0 and finger-sucking activities ŽTsuji and Serl, 1996..
Cly 250]350
Lead does not dissipate or biodegrade, hence
Fe 0.5]100
Na 60]145 high concentrations of lead and other metals in
K 2.6]52.5 soil causes a great risk for the people, particularly
Ca 50]345 the children, of that locality. The stability of lead
As G 0.01 and other metals in soil with such elevated con-
Pb Not detecteda
centrations can persist for many years, even after
As 0.05]13.5b
closure of the source of contamination ŽChatter-
a
Detection limit in FI-HG-AAS is 5 m grl. jee et al., 1993; Small et al., 1995.. In order to
b
Only pond water samples.
save the people of that locality from a potential
hazard the company should build an appropriate
treatment plant and clean up the contaminated
Although the soil, road dust, leaf dust and
soil.
sediments have an elevated level of lead and
arsenic, the tubewell waters Žgroundwater. are Acknowledgements
still free from both. This is in contrast to what we
observed in P. N. Mitra Lane, an arsenic affected The author acknowledged the CSIR Govern-
area contaminated by industrial effluents ŽChat- ment of India wProject No. 9r96Ž271.r95-EMR-1x,
terjee et al., 1993. of a plant manufacturing Paris the Austrian Academic Exchange, Department of
Green; there arsenic could penetrate easily as the Analytical Chemistry, Karl-Franzens University,
soil was permeable. The foremost reason that the Graz, Austria, and the Department of Chemistry,
groundwater in this study is free from arsenic and Jadavpur University, India, for financial support.
lead is that the upper aquifers, which yield the ¨
Help from P.P. Chowdhury, K.J. Irgolic, W. Goes-
groundwater, are overlain by a thick non-permea- sler and S. Roy are gratefully acknowledged.
ble clay-rich layer. Therefore the contaminated
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