Speciation, contamination, ecological and human health risks assessment of heavy metals in soils dumped with municipal solid wastes

Abstract

The main aim of this work is to assess the extent of soil contamination, potential ecological and health risks associated with the disposal of municipal solid waste (MSW) near a Ramsar site in Assam, India. Soil samples were collected and analysed for three heavy metals (HMs), namely, chromium (Cr), manganese (Mn) and zinc (Zn). The sources of HMs and their pollution levels were evaluated using different indices. The results demonstrated that Cr contamination was high near the metal scrap segregations unit within the dumping site, otherwise, the ecological risks associated with Zn and Mn were found to be low. The speciation of Cr and Zn were associated with the Fe-Mn oxide bound (F4) fraction, accounting 44.23% and 30.68%, respectively, whereas Mn (52.55%) was associated with the exchangeable fraction (F2). The fate and origin of HMs were assessed using mobility and enrichment factors and 16 out of the 20 sampling sites fell under the category of heavily polluted category for Cr, while others which were nearby the metal segregation units fell under the strongly to extremely polluted category. In few sites, significant enrichment was observed for Zn and minimal to moderate enrichment for Mn, respectively. Health risk assessment results indicated that Cr posed higher threat to human health through ingestion.

Keywords: Ecological risks; Health risks; Heavy metals; Municipal solid waste; Pollution indices.