Trend analysis of heavy metals, Ni, Pb, Cd and As in marine sediments – A case study of ONGC Block (KG OSN 2009/2) in Krishna-Godavari Basin, Bay of Bengal

Abstract

Heavy metals can be termed as conservative pollutants,\xa0 introduce into the aquatic systems as a result of the weathering of soils and rocks, from under water volcanic eruption and other anthropogenic activities. Thereby it changes the natural concentration of metals in seawater resulting in a ten or even hundred fold increase near the source of an effluent discharge. While some metals like manganese (Mn), copper (Cu), iron (Fe) and zinc (Zn) are biologically important for marine life, others like Nickel (Ni), Lead (Pb), Cadmium (Cd), and Arsenic (As) are non-essential and become toxic at higher concentrations. Associated to particulate matters, heavy metals tends to stay in solution for a very long time, but they will end up in the sediments, Therefore concentrations in the sediments are often higher than those in solution. In the sediments, these particles may form an important secondary source of contamination, even after the primary source has disappeared. Therefore, there is a need for timescale monitoring of the levels of these metals in all the marine resources, so as to establish the trends that could be linked to anthropogenic activities. In this paper, the effect of E&P activities of ONGC Block (KG OSN 2009/2) in Krishna-Godavari Basin, Bay of Bengal is studied, by carrying out a trend analysis of heavy metal concentration (60Ni, 208Pb, 111Cd, and 75As) in the sediments from this block. Sediments samples were collected from the ONGC Block (KG OSN 2009/2) using OSPAR commission guidelines and the heavy metal concentration values averaged out. These average values are used to analyze the trend for a period extending from 2015 up to 2019. In the years 2016, the pollution level recorded was minimum. Overall, from 2015 to 2019, 208Pb shows a decreasing trend line, but 60Ni, 111Cd, and 75As shows an increasing trend line. Albeit the increasing trend of 60Ni, 111Cd, and 75As concentration are a matter of concern, but all the values are below the ERL (effects range low) set by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), USA. Hence, it can be concluded that the oil field activity of ONGC in the Eastern Offshore has not made any significant impact on the marine environment, in terms of heavy metal pollution. A statistical analysis in terms of Relative Contamination Factors and Pollution Load Index has also been done in the paper.