As a consequence of increasing industrialization without environmental governance, Pakistan is seriously confronted by many complex and difficult environmental challenges related to water and soil pollution. Among these pollution types, pollution due to heavy metals is of serious concern due to their harmful effects on living organisms. In Pakistan, a mercury-cell chlor-alkali plant (MCCAP), installed at Kala Shah Kaku industrial zone, is causing serious environmental degradation in nearby areas due to the direct discharge of its wastewater in the fresh water of Nullah Daik. The production capacity of the MCCAP is, approximately, 33 thousand metric tons per year. Furthermore, due to monsoon flooding every year, agricultural fields around the Nullah Daik are also suspected to significant contamination. Therefore, assessment of contamination in the waters of Nullah Daik as well as nearby agriculture fields is an important task to study. This study was conducted to analyse the mercury level in both water and soil samples surrounding MCCAP using inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES). Results confirm the presence of heterogeneous Hg contamination with concentrations ranging between 0.1 to 6.71 µg L-1 in the water samples. Furthermore, significant Hg concentration, ranging between 0.1 – 14.8 mg kg-1, was also observed in the soil samples collected along the banks of Nullah Daik. However, water and soil samples collected from the upstream, from point of convergence of the MCCAP’s wastewater to the Nullah, do not show any Hg contamination. Hence, the study suggests the development of specific legislative instruments in Pakistan concerning with the surface and soil water pollution and application of treatment strategies in highly polluted areas in order to avoid potential health concern on communities dwelling banks of Nullah Daik and River Ravi.
Nadia Jamil, Mujtaba Baqar, Irfan Ahmad Shaikh, Iqra Javaid, Ayesha Shahid, Rubab Khalid, Naveed Ahsan, Abdul Qadir and Muhammad Arslan