An Investigation on the toxicity of some trace metals in river Kabul, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistan

Author: Khalid Usman, Hameed Ur Rehman, Sundus Adeel, Wahid Shah, Khalid Pervaiz, Zahirullah, Rafi Ullah and Muhammad Arsalan

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Abstract

A study was conducted to analyze the concentration of trace metals in natural waters of river Kabul, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan. The metals i.e., Pb, Cd, Zn, Mn, Cu and Cr were determined by using atomic absorption spectrophotometer. The concentrations of the metals recorded were in the range as: Pb 0.06-4.41 ppm; Zn 4.11-7.11 ppm; Cd 0.42-1.46 ppm; Cu 1.07-3.86 ppm; Mn 0.06-2.11 ppm and Cr 0.05-2.11 ppm. All the metals analyzed were above the international permissible limits except manganese. The high level of metal contamination in the river Kabul suggested that the water conditions are not suitable for aquatic life and human consumption.

Keywords

River Kabul, aquatic pollution, trace metals

Conclusion

The overall results of the present study concluded that various kinds of anthropogenic activities including industrial effluents, civic wastes and various kinds of pollutants along the river Kabul have affected the water quality very badly at study area. This is quite evident from the high levels of heavy metals found beyond the suitable ranges and international permissible limits that if proper, timely remedial measures are not adopted, the situation will be aggravated and may cause many human health hazards, deterioration of the natural ecosystem of the river, huge mortalities of fish, etc.

References

INTRODUCTION Pollution is often dependent upon the load of wastes coming from civilization development. Much of the waste of urban development enters the water bodies through of water borne discharge wastes termed as waste water (Welch and Jacoby, 2004). The waste water discharges by industrial operations, in some cases, are among the worst sources of water pollution. The nature of pollutants associated with these waste waters differs greatly from one industry to another, in almost all cases. The resulting problems are associated with one or more combination of factors, including high BOD, high conc. of suspended solids and presence of toxic substances, etc. (Edwards, 1993). Water covers 71% of the earth's surface and make up 65% of the human body. Presently, 450 million populations in 29 different countries are facing the problem of water shortages (UNEP, 2002). Aquatic pollution has appeared as a serious problem in Pakistan due to the introduction of industrial effluents / domesti

How to cite this article

Khalid Usman, Hameed Ur Rehman, Sundus Adeel, Wahid Shah, Khalid Pervaiz, Zahirullah, Rafi Ullah and Muhammad Arsalan (2017). An Investigation on the toxicity of some trace metals in river Kabul, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistan.Biological Forum ï¿