Spatial Distribution of Heavy Metals in Surface Water from Coastal Areas of Ernakulam District, Kerala, South West Coast of India

The concentration of heavy metals and their spatial distribution in surface waters collected from coastal areas of Ernakulam District, Kerala, India were analyzed for this study. The heavy metals concentrations (Zn, Ni, Cd, cu, and Pb) of samples collected from 8 typical sites were determined by Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy. Multivariate statistical analysis method such as Spearman’s correlation coefficient, PCA, and cluster analysis are the methods used for the identification of the heavy metal sources and its relationship between pollutants in surface water. The complete analysis revealed the main source of heavy metal contamination was due Ni and Cd moderate, very low level by Pb, Zn and Cu. The principal component analysis and the correlation analysis showed a positive loading for Ni because of its higher level of pollution. The input for the heavy metal contamination was mainly the anthropogenic inputs such as municipal waste water, sewage discharge, aquaculture waste and fishing activities. The findings of this study revealed the water body is facing the risk of anthropogenic pollution due to heavy metals thereby increasing the toxicity in the coastal environment and affecting the ecosystem.