Pollution fingerprintings in soils and plants of Buddha Nalah drain contaminated with industrial effluents

The contamination of natural water ways and its surrounding environments with potentially toxic elements (PTEs) have become a major concern worldwide. Among the natural waterways the river Sutlej in Punjab is being highly contaminated with effluents from sewage, industries and agricultural runoff. Since the earlier studies on contamination of water with heavy metals are restricted to small area. Therefore, this study was carried out to evaluate the ecological risk posed by PTEs such as zinc (Zn), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), copper (Cu), nickel (Ni), lead (Pb), chromium (Cr), cobalt (Co) and cadmium (Cd) in soil and plant samples collected from different locations (pre city, city and post city) of Buddha Nalah drain situated in Ludhiana, Punjab, India. The content of total cobalt, nickel, lead, chromium, zinc and manganese were above the highest permissible limits in soils and plants. The results related to pollution and ecological risk indices (ecological risk index (> 320) and modified risk index (range: 533.8–3000.3) indicated the very high contamination of soil with lead, cobalt and cadmium. Therefore, outcomes of this study will determine methods to decrease the accumulation of PTEs in soils and improve the quality of water in river Sutlej.