ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Heavy Metal Concentration and Mutagenic
Assessment of Pond Water Samples:
a Case Study from India
More details
Hide details
1
Department of Botanical and Environmental Sciences, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, Punjab, India
2
Department of Botany and Environmental Science, Sri Guru Granth Sahib World University,
Fatehgarh Sahib, Punjab, India
Submission date: 2018-10-29
Final revision date: 2019-01-10
Acceptance date: 2019-01-29
Online publication date: 2019-08-30
Publication date: 2019-12-09
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2020;29(1):789-798
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
The presence of heavy metals in an aquatic ecosystem can be directly linked to the incidences of
mutagenicity in aquatic organisms. Thus, we appraised the presence of heavy metals in pond water
samples and assessed their mutagenic potential. The water samples were collected for a period of two
years for eight different seasons. Concentrations of heavy metals were analysed using microwave
plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (MP-AES) and compared with the BIS and WHO standards
for drinking water. Overall, the highest metal concentrations were detected during the winter season
(Cu - 564.55±9.057 μg/L; Ni - 225.45±91.81 μg/L; Zn - 860±48.41 μg/L; Cr - 857.91±57.81 μg/L) followed
by summer (As - 18.36±4.23 μg/L; Pb - 130.93±49.73 μg/L; Cd - 8.21±1.81 μg/L) and monsoon season
(Co - 631.96±77.09 μg/L; Se - 2315.45±67.18 μg/L). The lowest metal concentrations were observed
during the post-monsoon season. HPI index revealed that six sampling sites out of 11 were above the
critical index of 100. In mutagenicity assays we observed that samples with a higher concentration of
heavy metals exhibited higher mutagenic potential. The maximum mutagenic potential was observed
during the winter and summer seasons. This study can be very helpful to policy and decision makers for
water resource management and conservation strategy.