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Research ArticleVariations of the Physicochemical Parameters andMetal Levels and Their Risk Assessment in UrbanizedBagmati River Kathmandu Nepal

Rukumesh Paudyal1234 Shichang Kang15 Chhatra Mani Sharma246

Lekhendra Tripathee124 and Mika Sillanpaumlauml4

1State Key Laboratory of Cryospheric Sciences Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and ResourcesChinese Academy of Sciences Lanzhou 730000 China2Himalayan Environment Research Institute (HERI) Kathmandu Nepal3University of Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing 100049 China4Laboratory of Green Chemistry Lappeenranta University of Technology Sammonkatu 12 50130 Mikkeli Finland5CAS Center for Excellence in Tibetan Plateau Earth Sciences Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing 100085 China6Department of Environmental Science and Engineering School of Science Kathmandu University Dhulikhel Nepal

Correspondence should be addressed to Shichang Kang shichangkanglzbaccn

Received 14 July 2016 Revised 14 September 2016 Accepted 13 October 2016

Academic Editor Franco Tassi

Copyright copy 2016 Rukumesh Paudyal et al This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons AttributionLicense which permits unrestricted use distribution and reproduction in any medium provided the original work is properlycited

During post-monsoon 2013 surface water samples were collected form 34 sites from the Bagmati River and its tributaries withinthe Kathmandu Valley to assess the river water qualityThe physical parameters were measured on site and major ions (Na+ NH4

+K+ Mg2+ Ca2+ Clminus SO4

2minus and NO3minus) and 17 elements in water were analyzed in the laboratory Conductivity ranged from 2192

to 846 120583Scm while turbidity ranged from 252 to 223 NTU and dissolved oxygen (DO) ranged from 004 to 898mgL The ionicand elemental concentrations were higher in the lower section where the population density is high compared to the headwatersThe large input of wastewater and organic load created anoxic condition by consuming dissolved oxygen along the lower belt ofthe river The concentration of the elements was found to be in the order of Mn gt Zn gt Ti gt Rb gt Cr gt Cu gt Sc gt Ni gt V gt Li gtCo gtMo gt Cd gt Y gt Ga gt Be gtNbThe concentration of Mn Cd Cr Co and Zn was particularly higher in urban and semiurbansections Enrichment factor (EF) calculations for Cd Co and Zn showed their highly enriched values indicating that these elementsoriginated from anthropogenic sources Preliminary risk assessments were determined by the hazard quotient (HQ) calculationsin order to evaluate the health risk of the metals The HQingestion values of elements were found to be in the order Sb gtMn gt Cr gtV gt Co gt Cd gt Cu gt Zn gtNi gt Li gtMo with all averaged HQ values less than 1 indicating no or limited health risk of metals fromthe river to the local residence However the values of Sb in some parts of the Bagmati were close to unity indicating its possiblethreat Anthropogenic activities like industrial activities municipal waste water and road construction besides the river appear tocontrol the chemical constituent of the river water Overall the river was highly polluted with elevated concentrations of major ionsand elements and there is a need for restoration projects

1 Introduction

Metal contamination in fresh water has been global problembecause of its toxicity abundance and persistence [1ndash3]The rate of heavy metals release to the rivers worldwideis increasing rapidly mainly due to the rapid growth of

urban population and increased industrial and agriculturalproduction [4ndash7] Furthermore their distribution and accu-mulation in the environment have been increasing at analarming rate affecting human and other aquatic organisms[8 9] Many anthropogenic activities like disposal of indus-trial and domestic wastes agriculture construction of roads

Hindawi Publishing CorporationJournal of ChemistryVolume 2016 Article ID 6025905 13 pageshttpdxdoiorg10115520166025905

2 Journal of Chemistry

and buildings and deforestation are known to affect waterchemistry [10ndash13] Similarly increase in ions concentrationcould be a result of increased population for example in theUnited States [14] France and Germany [15ndash17]

Water resources from the Bagmati River System areimportant for small scale hydroelectricity and irrigation andas drinking water sources About 82 of water volume isextracted daily from the surface water sources for drinkingwater supply in the Kathmandu Valley On the other handthese rivers are extensively being used as dumping sites forsolid wastes outlets for domestic sewerage and industrialand agricultural effluents Also the river banks are beingencroached upon by slum dwellers without any restrictionsfrom the government Furthermore due to heavy traffic inthe city the demands of new road channel are increasinghence construction of roads by the banks of river withoutproper study is common these days All these negativeapproaches in addition to uncontrolled and mismanagedgrowth of urban population are affecting the balance ofthe riverine ecology in the valley In addition the uncon-trolled quarrying of sand has tremendously affected the self-treatment capacity of the rivers

In this paper we focus on the contribution of chemicalload from the tributaries of Bagmati into its main streamIn the past there have been few studies about the waterchemistry of main stream of Bagmati River which havefocused mainly on nutrients major ions and trace elementswith limited sampling points [18ndash23] However there is alack of information on the chemistry of the tributaries ofBagmati River their possible sources within the valley andtrace metals induced human risk assessments This studyfor the first time provides the detailed information fromthe tributaries of Bagmati water quality health assessmentin the Bagmati River during the current state of rapidurbanization and socioeconomic development including therisk assessment from trace metals

2 Materials and Methods

21 Study Area

211 Geological Settings This study was conducted in theBagmati River and its tributaries in the Kathmandu ValleyCentral Nepal (Figure 1) Kathmandu lies in the middlemountain region of Nepal It is roughly circular bowl-shapedvalley with diameter of about 25 to 30 km [24] It coversan area of approximately 650 km2 with an average altitudeof 1340m [25] The Bagmati is not a snow-fed river andmost of its water is contributed by runoff The origin ofBagmati is at Shivapuri and surrounding mountain rangeThere are 24 main tributaries originating from Mahabharatand Siwalik range which feed the Bagmati River [26] TheBagmati River system drains about 3500 km2 before crossingthe boundary of India and eventually draining into theGanges [23] The Bagmati river system consists of threemajor rivers flowing through the Kathmandu Valley namelyBagmati Bishnumati and Manahara Kathmandu Valleywas a lake during PlioPleistocene times and silted up bylacustrine and deltaic river sediments [27] The basin filled

sediments are mainly loam and composed of unconsolidatedclay silt sand and gravels The headwaters of Bagmatiriver contain mica gneiss and biotite schist with muscovitewhereas the southern part of the river consists of thick clayformation and basal gravel [28] and the bed rock downstreamcontains fine grained phyllite quartz containing argillaceouslimestone slates shales claystones and mudstones [29 30]In this study we consider samples from 5 major tributaries(Manahara Dhobi Tukucha Bishnumati and Balkhu Khola)and some minor tributaries (Mahadev Khola Hanumanteand Godavari) The study stretch in the main stream ofBagmati River is about 37 km in length from Sundarijal toKhokana

212 Land-Use There have been rapid urbanization in Kath-mandu Valley as it is the capital city and center of attractionto the Nepalese population In 1976 the total urbanbuilt-uparea inKathmanduwas about 17 but in 2009 the percentageincreased to almost 67 In the same period the Forest Coverarea was reduced from 14 to 23 [31] This can have animmense effect on the river water quality

The climate of Kathmandu Valley is subtropical cooltemperate with maximum temperature of 356∘C in Apriland minimum of minus25 in January and 75 annual averagehumidity The temperature on average is 19∘C to 27∘C insummer and 2∘C to 20∘C inwinter the average rainfall is 1400millimeters most of which falls during monsoon Monsoonis generally observed during JunendashSeptember

KathmanduValley comprises three districts KathmanduLalitpur and BhaktapurThe valley encloses the entire area ofBhaktapur 85 of Kathmandu and 50 of Lalitpur DistrictThe total population of Kathmandu Valley is more than 25million according to the population census of 2011

22 Sampling and Laboratory Analysis Water samples werecollected from the Bagmati River and its tributaries duringOctober 2013 (after monsoon) The analyses were performedfor trace elements and major ions Alltogether 34 sam-ples were collected from different tributaries of Bagmatiriver basin In situ measurements were carried out for airtemperature water temperature pH conductivity turbidityDO and TDS A WagTech pH meter (WAG-WE30200)WagTech conductivitymeter (WAG-WE30210) and turbiditymeter (WAG-WE30210) were used in the field for in situmeasurements Water samples were collected into 20mLultraclean HDPE (High Density Polyethylene) bottles afterfiltering through 045120583m polypropylene membrane filtersThe sampling bottles were rinsed with river waters thricebefore the original samples were taken All samples weretaken at a depth of approximately 30 cm below water surfaceThe sampled bottles were packed inside the double polyethy-lene zip-lock bags and kept in refrigerator at 4∘C until thelaboratory analysis [32]

All samples for trace elements were acidified to pH lt2 with ultrapure HNO3 before analyses in order to dissolvethe trace elements and to prevent their adsorption on thewalls of the bottles The samples were organized for thedifferent laboratory analysis Samples were analyzed for 17

Journal of Chemistry 3

BG-9BG-8

BG-7

BG-6BG-4

BG-3

BG-2BG-1

BG-34

BG-33

BG-32BG-31

BG-30

BG-29BG-28 BG-27BG-26

BG-25

BG-24BG-23BG-22

BG-21

BG-20

BG-19

BG-18

BG-17

BG-16

BG-14

N

Elevation (m)value

High 2723

Low 1238

0 4 8 122(Kilometers)

India

China

Nepal

85∘20

9984000998400998400E

27∘50

9984000998400998400N

85∘30

9984000998400998400E

27∘40

9984000998400998400N

27∘30

9984000998400998400N

85∘20

9984000998400998400E 85

∘30

9984000998400998400E

27∘40

9984000998400998400N

27∘50

9984000998400998400N

27∘30

9984000998400998400N

Sampling points

River

Figure 1 The map of the study area showing the sampling points in Bagmati and its tributaries within the Kathmandu Valley


elements (Li Be Sc Ti V Mn Cr Co Ni Cu Zn Ga RbY Nb Mo and Cd) directly by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS X-7 Thermo Elemental) at theInstitute of Tibetan PlateauResearch (ITP-CAS)The samplesfor major ions (Na+ NH4 K

+ Mg2+ Ca2+ Clminus SO42minus

and NO3minus) were analyzed at the State Key Laboratory of

Cryospheric Sciences Cold andArid Regions Environmentaland Engineering Research Institute Chinese Academy ofSciences (CAREERI-CAS) Major cations were analyzed byDionex ISC 2000 ion chromatograph using an IonPac CS12Acolumn 20mM methanesulfonic acid eluent and CSRS300suppresser Major anions were analyzed by Dionex ISC2500 ion chromatograph using an IonPac AS11-HC column25mMNaOHeluent andASRS300 suppresserThedetectionlimits were less than 1 120583gL [33]

23 Quality Control Ionic Balance and Data Analysis Spe-cial care was taken during the field sample collection andlaboratory analysis Nonpowder vinyl clean room gloves andmasks were worn to avoid the possible contaminations inthe field as well as in the Laboratory All the samples werekept frozen in the laboratory until analysisThree field blankswere prepared with deionized water and taken in the fieldand were analyzed for trace elements and major ions Thefield blank samples showed very negligible contaminationduring sampling storage and transportation of the samplesThe ionic balance between anions (Fminus Clminus NO2

2minus SO42minus

and NO3minus) and cations (Na+ NH4

+ K+ Mg2+ and Ca2+)were evaluated by regression analysis sum anions = 026 timessum cations minus 8074 (1198772 = 078) suggesting an acceptable dataquality Details of sampling analysis and quality control havebeen explained elsewhere [32ndash35] Some statistical analysislike Pearsonrsquos correlation and Principle Component Analysis(PCA) were performed using IBM SPSS19 statistics

24 Enrichment Factor Enrichment factor (EF) is consideredas an effective tool to evaluate themagnitude of contaminantsin the environment from anthropogenic influence [36ndash38]EF calculations for the trace elements have been previouslyfound to be efficient for the study of precipitation [35] andsurface water [39] in Nepal EF can be calculated using thefollowing equation

EF119909 =(119862119909119862119903) riverwater(119862119909119862119903) soil

(1)

where 119909 represents the element of interest EF119909 is theenrichment factor of 119909 119862119909 is the concentration of 119909 and119862119903 is the concentration of a reference element Generally AlLi Fe Sc and Zr are considered as reference elements Liwas selected as the reference element for calculating EF asit is not subject to anthropogenic enrichment For this studytop soil composition of Tibet was considered [40] because ofits proximity to the study area instead of upper continentalcrust (UCC) [41] Tripathee et al [35] also considered soilcomposition of Tibet to calculate EF and found that it waseffective for the regions However recent study by Tripatheeet al [42] has suggested that both UCC and Tibetan top

soil could be used for EF calculations in the southernHimalayas Nepal Elements with EF close to 1 are consideredas having strong natural influence Samples having EF gt 15are considered indicative of human influence [43] an EFvalue higher than 4 indicates some anthropogenic sources[37] and elements having EF greater than 10 are regarded tobe severely affected by anthropogenic origin

25 Risk Assessment Some of the important pathways oftrace metals entering into human body include ingestiondermal adsorption and inhalation in surface water environ-ment [44ndash46] Using ingestion and dermal pathways hazardquotients (HQs) associated with corresponding metals wereassessed via a risk assessment model The exposure dose iscalculated as modified from the US Environmental Protec-tion Agency [47] using

119863ingestion =119862119908 times IRW times EF times ED

BW times AT

119863dermal =119862119908 times SA times 119870119901 times ET times EF times ED times CF

BW times AT

(2)

where 119862119908 is average concentration of trace metals in waterIRW is drinkingwater ingestion rate (2 Lday) EF is exposurefrequency (350 daysyear) ED is exposure duration (30years) BW is body weight (70 kg) AT is average time fornoncarcinogens and carcinogens (10950) SA is exposed skinarea (2800 cm2) 119870119901 is dermal permeability constant cmhrC is 00004 Ni is 00002 Zn is 00006 and Cr is 0002 forother metals 0001 ET is exposure time 06 hday CF is unitconversion factor for water it is equal to 1 L1000 cm3

However the hazard quotient (HQ) is calculated asfollows

HQs = 119863RfD (3)

RfD is the reference dose for different analytes expressed in120583gkgday which is based on US risk based assessment [48]

3 Results and Discussion

31 Physical Parameters and Major Ions Concentration Theaverage concentration of ions and physical parameters in theheadwaters and semiurban and urban stretch of the river forall the samples are presented in Table 1 The concentrationof every parameter except pH and dissolved oxygen showedmuch higher concentration in urban and semiurban areascompared to the headwaters of Bagmati river basin pHranged from 607 at Balkhu (BG-15) to 805 in headwater ofDhobi Khola at Chapali (CG-23) BG-15 sample was collectednear the vegetable market of Balkhu which is one of the mostpolluted sections of Bagmati river basin However the rangeof pH value along the Bagmati river system is within a typicalriver water value (45ndash85) as suggested byMcCutcheon et al[49] Lowest conductivity total dissolved solids and highestdissolved oxygen were found in Sundarijal Bazzar (BG-2)one of the main headwaters of Bagmati River with high flowrate On the contrary high conductivity high TDS and low


Table 1 Variation of measured major ions (120583eqL) conductivity (120583Scm) turbidity (NTU) DO (mgL) and TDS (mgL) in three differentsections of the Bagmati River basin within Kathmandu Valley Values in brackets indicate standard deviation

Parameters Headwater Semiurban UrbanRange Average (SD) Range Average (SD) Range Average (SD)

Fminus 667ndash1264 971 (222) 805ndash5002 1700 (1231) 1240ndash112289 15272 (300)Clminus 304ndash4420 2215 (136) 1519ndash32041 13841 (11896) 11759ndash103545 39241 (2494)SO42minus 158ndash2340 1101 (744) 74ndash7217 3348 (2071) 1379ndash18950 7049 (3934)

NO3minus 1216ndash6913 4360 (2408) 0ndash48851 9493 (14455) 0ndash38262 8636 (1239)

Na+ 10114ndash25999 20219 (6156) 7335ndash111569 47249 (36628) 46719ndash257330 112438 (6471952)NH4minus 2313ndash13129 7932 (3950) 4702ndash55740 22174 (17879) 17710ndash114664 59505 (30089)

K+ 847ndash3407 2510 (1007) 1109ndash19691 8529 (7092) 5978ndash49318 21831 (13976)Mg2+ 457ndash4856 3040 (1736) 1441ndash40976 15180 (13751) 7621ndash36123 20327 (8867)Ca2+ 3094ndash30160 17284 (9524) 8871ndash175257 66838 (56901) 26104ndash111636 77918 (26247)pH 707ndash805 749 (031) 652ndash77 716 (0377) 607ndash762 706 (041)Conductivity 2192ndash255 8336 (6597) 6310ndash538 25993 (1833) 174ndash846 49138 (20567)Turbidity 252ndash1867 695 (537) 1439ndash223 5065 (6311) 1332ndash222 5796 (5251)Dissolved oxygen 521ndash898 676 (107) 037ndash629 363 (226) 004ndash47 180 (153)TDS 118ndash129 4206 (3336) 315ndash265 13010 (9106) 875ndash418 24816 (9826)

Table 2 Pearson correlation matrix among some major ions in the water samples from Bagmati drainage system within Kathmandu Valley

Fminus Clminus SO42minus NO3

minus Na+ NH4minus K+ Mg2+ Ca2+

Fminus 1Clminus 74lowastlowast 1SO42minus 01 63lowastlowast 1

NO3minus minus12 minus10 minus07 1

Na+ 72lowastlowast 97lowastlowast 58lowastlowast minus07 1NH4minus 62lowastlowast 92lowastlowast 65lowastlowast minus25 94lowastlowast 1

K+ 71lowastlowast 95lowastlowast 57lowastlowast minus11 99lowastlowast 96lowastlowast 1Mg2+ 46lowastlowast 79lowastlowast 59lowastlowast 22 83lowastlowast 74lowastlowast 83lowastlowast 1Ca2+ 33 67lowastlowast 53lowastlowast 36lowast 71lowastlowast 61lowastlowast 70lowastlowast 96lowastlowast 1lowastlowastCorrelation is significant at the 001 level (2-tailed)lowastCorrelation is significant at the 005 level (2-tailed)

dissolved oxygen were found in the urban section of DhobiKhola at BuddhaNagar (BG-11) andMaitidevi (BG-34) Con-ductivity of the river was found to increase from headwatersto the area downstream due to the increased intensity ofanthropogenic activities downstream Furthermore turbidityranged from 252 at Sundarijal above Dam (BG-1) to 223 atBagmati Nagar (BG-5) Bagmati Nagar is a suburban sectionof the Bagmati river basin The high turbidity must be due tohigh sediment loading in the downstream

All the measured major ions showed an increasing trendfrom headwaters to semiurban to urban section except fornitrate ions Nitrate ions decreased from semi urban tourban mainly due to the high population density in theurban section of the river The major ions compositions inequivalent per litre in headwaters were Na+ gt Ca++ gtNH4+ gt NO3

minus gt Mg2+ gt K+ gt Clminus gt SO42minus gt Fminus

suburban was Ca2+ gt Na+ gt NH4+ gt Mg2+ gt Clminus gt

NO3minus gt K+ gt SO4

2minus gt Fminus and urban stretch of theriver was Na+ gt Ca2+ gt NH4

+ gt Clminus gt K+ gt Mg2+ gtFminus gt NO3

minus gt SO42minus respectively The concentration

of NO3minus Ca2+ Na+ SO4

2minus Mg2+ NH4+ K+ Fminus and Clminus

was 2 4 5 6 6 7 8 15 and 17 times higher respectivelyin urban stretch compared to the headwaters Correlationsamong ions are presented in Table 2 Chlorine ion is highlycorrelated with many ions like Fminus Na+ NH4

+ K+ andMg2+suggesting their common source of origin High amountof Clminus ions is mainly from anthropogenic sources [16 2050] which might have originated from domestic effluentsroads and industries in the river system Moreover the highvalue of Clminus concentration is an indicator of unforested landand is considered as good indicator of human disturbance[51] The possible sources of K+ are domestic wastes andfertilizers On the other hand low sulfate concentrations incomparison to chloride might be due to sulfate reductionto sulfide occurring as a result of high organic load Nitrateconcentrations were very low in the samples with low DOconcentrations suggesting lack of oxygen limits nitrificationwhich enhances denitrification [17 52 53] Figure 2 showsthe variation of conductivity DO and TDS along the distancein the main stream of Bagmati River Generally DO showeda decreasing trend with distance (Figure 2(b)) however insome of the lower reaches of Bagmati River DOwas relatively


0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

Distance (Km)minus5

ConductivityTDS

(a)

0

2

4

6

8

10

Diss

olve

d ox

ygen

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40Distance (Km)

minus5

Conductivity

(b)

Figure 2Variation of (a) conductivity (120583Scm) TDS (mgL) and (b) dissolved oxygen (mgL) along the Bagmati Riverwithin theKathmanduValley (the distance was measured from the headwater)

high due to good mixing In such samples the concentrationof nitrate was high suggesting nitrification in the presenceof oxygen In addition variation of conductivity and TDSwas also plotted with distance (Figure 2(a)) which showedan increasing trend with distance suggesting high input ofions in the downstream river with high population densityAmmoniumhad a good correlationwith chloride potassiumand sodium suggesting their common sources in the riversystems High concentration of NH4

+ appears to be releasedby anthropogenic sources such as untreated domestic sewageand agricultural and industrial effluent The concentration ofNH4+ was extremely high in semiurban and urban region

of the Bagmati basin The use of chemical pesticides andfertilizers has been common in the agriculture lands ofthe Kathmandu Valley which has high contribution in theBagmati nutrient load [54] Similarly carpet garment andother small scale industries also play a significant role in thecontribution of chemical loads

32 Elemental Composition Average concentrations of ele-ments in headwaters and semiurban and urban sites areshown in Table 3 The concentration of Mg and Zn appearedto be higher than other elements All the elements showeda high concentration in urban areas and semiurban areasThe increase in concentration of elements like Mn Cd CrCo and Zn was particularly high from headwaters to theurban sites The concentration of Cd was not detected inthe headwater but however was observed in the semiurbanand urban stretches of the river (Table 3) The concentrationof Cd was higher than observed in the previous study inthe Bagmati [23] suggesting increase of such anthropogenicmetal levels in the river The high value of Cd might beattributed to industrial activities downstream On the other

hand the concentration of Zn is lower in headwater andsuburban water compared to the data reported by Bhatt etal [23] suggesting the natural restoration in the upper zoneHowever in the urban section the concentration of Zn washigh in our study Such a result is an indication that othertributariesmust be contributing tomore ZndownstreamThesources of Zn are domestic construction car related wasteand untreated waste water [55] The concentration of Cr was3 120583gL 8 120583gL and 17 120583gL respectively in headwaters andsemiurban and urban section of the river These values arehigher than in Buriganga [9] and lower compared to theKorotoa River [3] in Bangladesh and Orge River in France[56] both are urban rivers However the values were stillhigher than theWHO guidelines of 5 120583gL [57] in semiurbanand urban sections Similarly the concentration of Ni Cuand Cd was 14- 5- and 21-fold lower than those found inRiver Korotoa in Bangladesh [3]The concentration of cobaltwas 00092120583gL 02 120583gL and 038 120583gL in headwaters andsemiurban and urban areas respectively These values werelower than Orge River in France [56] Interestingly theseconcentrations were comparable to Indrawati (012120583gL) andDudh Koshi (08 120583gL) which are remote rivers of Nepalwith limited anthropogenic pressure in the surroundingsand the only source of pollutants is long range transport[32] Similarly the concentration of Ni was slightly lowerin the Bagmati compared to the Indrawati and Dudh Koshiindicating that there is limited source of cobalt and nickelin the Bagmati River [32] Furthermore the concentration ofMn Co Ni Zn and Cd was lower in our study compared toGuamaxung-chu near Lhasa [58] which is a streamwith highimpact of mining activities indicating that the elements likeMn Co Ni Zn and Cd are more influenced by mining thanmunicipal waste Previous studies [15 20 22] have suggested


Table 3 Variation of average concentration (expressed in 120583gL) of the elements in three sections of the Bagmati River basin within theKathmandu Valley

Detection limit Headwater Semiurban UrbanMax Min Mean SD Max Min Mean SD Max Min Mean SD

Li 0024 198 047 098 050 235 028 118 062 300 060 166 072Be 0004 005 001 002 001 006 000 003 002 006 000 003 002Sc 0012 629 263 468 105 749 168 452 171 799 183 537 201Ti 0064 802 159 513 207 2900 200 1129 795 3990 703 2164 1070V 0007 183 028 121 055 374 026 128 105 250 065 163 058Mn 0005 2960 052 1105 1054 25700 2300 9597 7766 23300 7050 15871 5658Cr 003 499 075 290 141 2090 063 867 801 2980 100 1727 898Co 0008 022 004 012 006 073 018 042 020 086 028 058 019Ni 0017 052 002 029 020 263 033 120 075 413 093 218 106Cu 0079 360 018 125 125 2080 058 396 638 3660 127 1129 910Zn 0034 1360 414 651 333 4090 602 1271 1074 9670 713 3705 2525Ga 0003 008 001 004 002 017 003 008 004 024 006 013 005Rb 0005 309 051 185 089 3160 165 958 952 4870 620 2298 1555Y 00002 028 001 014 010 042 002 020 013 058 011 029 014Nb 0002 002 001 001 001 008 000 002 002 009 001 004 002Mo 0002 016 004 009 004 068 006 026 022 117 019 049 029Cd 0003 002 000 001 001 121 000 020 043 242 002 038 062

that the Bagmati River is one of the most polluted rivers intheworld however the concentration of someheavymetals islower than Seine River Korotoa River and Orge River mostlybecause of differences in the industrial inputs The majoranthropogenic sources of the Bagmati are untreated domesticwaste urban development landfill sites along the bank of theriver and some small scale industrial activities

The concentration of all the measured elements in themain stream of Bagmati River showed an increasing trendwith distance for 25 km from the first sampling site Howeverfor the samples downstream the elemental concentrationdid not show any specific pattern mainly due to the vari-ability in input of chemical load from other tributarieslike Tukucha Bishnumati Balkhu and also inputs fromdomestic and industrial effluents Figure 3 shows that theelements concentration was very low at Guheshwori (BG-6)The elemental concentration reaches very low values mainlybecause of the presence of water treatment plant (WTP) justbefore the sampling point This water treatment plant wasestablished because of the presence of holy Hindu templenamed Pashupatinath The concentration of elements startsto increase and the highest peak for all the elements wasfound near the Kritipur (below the suspension bridge) Thismay be due to the presence of dumping site in the area Theconcentration of elements reduces when it reaches Chovarthe exit of Bagmati River from the Kathmandu Valley sug-gesting the high gradient as the river passes through a smallchannel increasing the flow velocity hence resulting in lowresidence time of the elements In general the concentrationof elements shows an increasing trend along the river channeldownstream The population density is generally high inlower section of the basin indicating population density asthe major factor for elemental concentration

33 Contribution of Chemical Load from Each Tributary toMain Stream Samples from six tributaries before the conflu-ence to the main stream were observed in order to identifythe contribution of chemical load to the main stream Asthe tributaries Dhobhi Khola and Bishnumati flow throughhighly urbanized and densely populated areas of KathmanduValley the elemental concentrations were high The averageconcentration of elements such as Mn Cr Ni Cu Zn RbMo and Cd was highest in the Dhobhi Khola followed byBishnumati Similarly for major ions Clminus SO4

2minus Na+ andNH4minus were highest in the Dhobhi Khola whereas Fminus and

NO3minus were highest in the Bishnumati The elemental and

ionic concentrations were relatively lower in the Bagmatiand Manohora Therefore the elemental and the major ionsconcentrations were found to be high in the section with highpopulation density suggesting the major sources were fromanthropogenic inputs into the river system

34 Enrichment Factor and Source Identification The EFof Bagmati River has been shown in Figure 4 The ele-ments showed substantially different EF lowest value wasdetected for Ga (0133 0199 and 022) and highest forCd (375529 3800799 and 5932245) in headwaters andsuburban and urban sections of the river respectively Theelements can be divided into three groups the first groupincludes nonenriched elements (EF lt 4) such as Be V MnCr Co Zn Ga Rb and Y in headwater Be V Co GaRb and Y in semiurban areas and Be V Co and Y inurban areas indicating crustal origin The second group hasintermediately enriched elements (EF between 4 and 10) suchas Zn in headwater Mn Cr Cu and Zn in semiurban areasand Mn Cr and Rb in urban areas The third group hashighly enriched elements (EF gt 10) such as Sc and Cd in


0831662490000

00260052

244872

01836

001734

0100200

01326

000036072

001734

0065

13002652

000102

01632

000024048

000000390078

000021042

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40

Sampling location (distance) along Bagmati River (km)

Li

ChovarGuheshwori WTP

Be

Sc

Ti

V

Mn

Cr

Co

Ni

Cu

Zn

Ga

Rb

Y

Nb

Cdminus5

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40minus5

Con

cent

ratio

n (120583

gL)

Figure 3 Changes in chemical composition of the Bagmati River from Sundarijal (headwater) to the area downstream (urban area) about37 km at Khokana within the Kathmandu Valley where the concentration of elements is expressed in 120583gL

headwater and semiurban areas and Sc Cu Zn and Cdin urban areas indicating anthropogenic origin The EF ofCd was extremely high in all the samples Higher Cd valuemight have been attributed to industrial activity fuel burningand traffic [59ndash62] and also leachates from defused NI-Cdbatteries and Cd plated items The other highly enrichedelements (eg Sc Zn and Co) were also highly enrichedin urban section compared to the headwaters Such a resultmay be because of high human population in urban areaswhere the major role is played by sewage effluent untreateddomestic waste industrial activitiesmining traffic pollutionand landfill sites at the river banks [63 64] Similarly Mn wasintermediately enriched in semiurban and urban section ofthe Bagmati river basin in Kathmandu Valley The sourcesof Mn could be from combustion of unleaded gasoline andindustrial activities [65]

Furthermore PCA analysis was applied for the results oftrace elements from the Bagmati River water to understand

the elemental associations and their origins based on factorloadings [36 66 67]Three principal components (PCs) wereextracted from 17 elements The PC1 has high loadings ofNb Y V Be Ga and Ti PC2 has Mn Co Ni Cr and Moand PC3 has Cd Cu and Zn (Table 4) The total principalcomponent together explained 91 of variance (PC1 693PC2 1283 and PC3 88) The elements in the firstcomponent are from the weathering of catchment rocks andsoilsmainly due to construction of roads and buildings besidethe river Construction of roads beside the river has becomevery popular in the city The source of V may be from tarwhich is used for the construction of roads All elementsin PC2 (Mn Co Ni Cr and Mo) are potentially harmfulmetals High concentration of these metals is believed tobe associated with anthropogenic origin partially due todischarge of untreated sewage into the river water whilesome are from the garment carpet and other factoriesThese elements could also have originated from burning of


Be Sc V Mn Cr Co Ni Cu Zn Ga Rb Y Cd001

01

1

10

100

1000

10000

Enric

hmen

t fac

tor

Elements

HeadwaterSuburbanUrban

Figure 4 Average enrichment factor of trace elements in the waterof Bagmati River basin presented as three sections headwaters andsuburban and urban areas within the Kathmandu Valley

Table 4 Principal Component Analysis (PCA) of elements in theBagmati River basin within Kathmandu Valley

Elements Component1 2 3

Nb 880 389 050Y 880 309 211V 868 115 209Be 865 010 276Ga 743 573 303Ti 716 501 429Mn 297 850 250Co 532 783 198Ni 309 770 540Cr 222 763 566Mo 047 723 485Cd 132 208 817Cu 251 459 771Zn 342 494 738Rb 221 629 725Li 523 350 674Sc 550 181 638 of variance 6931 1283 879Eigen value 1179 218 099

fossil fuels and solid waste dumping [32 59 60 68 69]The elements in PC3 (Cd Cu and Zn) can be attributed toanthropogenic origin The sources of Cd are generally fromcoal combustion for heating purpose and also from vehicularemission Other possible sources of Zn Cd and Co may beelectronic waste and batteries that are disposed into the riversystem A very good correlation between Zn and Cu (1199032 =

096) as well as Cu and Cd (1199032 = 085) further indicates theirsimilarity of sources

35 Water Quality and Ecological Risk Assessment Thewaterof Bagmati River is considered holy where many peoplebathe drink or wash their body besides using the area forcremation especially near some temples on the banks ofthe river The HQs of trace metals for local residents anddevotees visiting the Pashupatinath Guhyeshwori and manyother temples located on the banks of the Bagmati Riverwithin the Kathmandu Valley are summarized in Table 5Eleven metals were considered for HQ analysis because oftheir available Rfd ingestion and dermal values HQs gt 1suggest that the water could possibly have deleterious effecton the residentsrsquo health [70] Therefore HQingestion of heavymetal in the study area was studied and found in the orderof Sb gt Mn gt Cr gt V gt Co gt Cd gt Cu gt Zn gt Ni gtLi gt Mo In this study the HQingestion and HQdermal valueswere found to be less than unity which indicates that thewater may have little or no health effect however for somesamples of Sb and Mg the values were close to unity Amongall the elements studied the highest HQingestion was foundfor Sb followed by Mn which was similar to that of Yellowriver delta [46] and drinking water in Karachi [70] but washowever higher than the study conducted in a playgroundof Madrid [71] some rivers of China [72 73] and streamsin northern Pakistan [45] HQingestion for Cr was also highercompared to other studies form China Pakistan and otherparts of the world Similarly HQingestion for Cd was higherthan the studies conducted in the Yangtze River in Nanjing[44] Madrid [71] Dan River [72] and Upper Han [73] butwas however lower than Yellow river delta [46] and Beshamarea in northern Pakistan but comparable to Jilal-dubair andAlpuri of Pakistan [45] Even though the overall HQingestionand HQdermal values are less than 1 special attention shouldbe paid to elements like Sb Mn and Cr and strict measuresshould be taken to maintain a healthy aquatic ecosystem forthis holy river in the heart of Kathmandu

4 Conclusion

This study provides the detailed information on water qualityof the Bagmati River and its tributarieswithin theKathmanduValley Since the origin of all the tributaries of Bagmati Riveris within the Kathmandu Valley the river water quality ismostly determined by human activities within the valleyMost of the elements and ions showed higher concentrationin the urban section of the river compared to the headwatersand exhibited a dependency with the population densityadjacent to the riverMeanwhile natural governing factor likeweathering of soil parentmaterials seems to play insignificantrole The concentration of nitrate and sulfate in most of thesamples in the lower reaches of the river was found to be verylow due to depletion of dissolved oxygen The concentrationof Mn Cd Cr Co and Zn was particularly higher in urbanand semiurban section of the river Cd Co and Zn werealso highly enriched indicating anthropogenic origin Thesource of V and many other elements can be attributed tothe construction of roads beside the river mainly due to


Table 5 Reference dose and hazard quotient for each element

Elements RfDingestion RfDdermal HQingestion HQdermal

Li 20 10Max 411119864 minus 03 690119864 minus 06

Min 384119864 minus 04 644119864 minus 07

Mean 187119864 minus 03 313119864 minus 06

V 1 001Max 102119864 minus 01 861119864 minus 03

Min 707119864 minus 03 594119864 minus 04

Mean 392119864 minus 02 329119864 minus 03

Mn 20 08Max 352119864 minus 01 739119864 minus 03

Min 716119864 minus 04 150119864 minus 05

Mean 145119864 minus 01 304119864 minus 03

Cr 3 0015Max 272119864 minus 01 914119864 minus 02

Min 575119864 minus 03 193119864 minus 03

Mean 104119864 minus 01 889119864 minus 03

Co 03 00003Max 789119864 minus 02 265119864 minus 02

Min 393119864 minus 03 132119864 minus 03

Mean 389119864 minus 02 351119864 minus 02

Ni 20 54Max 566119864 minus 03 352119864 minus 06

Min 329119864 minus 05 205119864 minus 08

Mean 200119864 minus 03 124119864 minus 06

Cu 40 12Max 251119864 minus 02 702119864 minus 05

Min 122119864 minus 04 341119864 minus 07

Mean 470119864 minus 03 132119864 minus 05

Zn 300 60Max 883119864 minus 03 223119864 minus 05

Min 378119864 minus 04 953119864 minus 07

Mean 210119864 minus 03 530119864 minus 06

Mo 5 19Max 641119864 minus 03 142119864 minus 05

Min 203119864 minus 04 448119864 minus 07

Mean 182119864 minus 03 402119864 minus 06

Cd 05 0005Max 133119864 minus 01 111119864 minus 02

Min 110119864 minus 04 921119864 minus 06

Mean 129119864 minus 02 108119864 minus 03

Sb 04 0008Max 829119864 minus 01 348119864 minus 02

Min 447119864 minus 02 188119864 minus 03

Mean 224119864 minus 01 942119864 minus 03

the use of tar cement and other raw materials Primaryhealth risk assessment for trace metals indicated that thesurface water in Bagmati River has low risk however somemetals like Sb and Mg were close to unity indicating possiblethreat Furthermore this study could be used as referencefor further research as this paper provides the first healthrisk assessment of trace metals for urban river in Nepal Ata glance the water quality of Bagmati River is governed byanthropogenic sources such as sewage effluents industrialwaste and dumping of solid waste besides the river Overallthe Bagmati River is polluted and is comparable with someof the most polluted rivers around the world and needsrestoration

Competing Interests

The authors declare no conflict of interests regarding thepublication of this paper

Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the Strategic PriorityResearch Program (B) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences(XDB03030504) the National Natural Science Foundationof China (41225002) and the Academy of Finland (Decisionno 268170) The authors would like to thank MuhammadAdnan for helping them in Figure 1

References

[1] P D Armitage M J Bowes and H M Vincent ldquoLong-termchanges in macroinvertebrate communities of a heavy metalpolluted stream the river Nent (Cumbria UK) after 28 yearsrdquoRiver Research and Applications vol 23 no 9 pp 997ndash10152007

[2] G-L Yuan C Liu L Chen and Z Yang ldquoInputting history ofheavy metals into the inland lake recorded in sediment profiles


Poyang Lake in Chinardquo Journal of HazardousMaterials vol 185no 1 pp 336ndash345 2011

[3] M S Islam M K Ahmed M Raknuzzaman M Habibullah -Al-Mamun andM K Islam ldquoHeavymetal pollution in surfacewater and sediment a preliminary assessment of an urban riverin a developing countryrdquo Ecological Indicators vol 48 pp 282ndash291 2015

[4] M Sillanpaa R Hulkkonen and A Manderscheid ldquoDrinkingwater quality in the alpine pastures of the eastern Tibetanplateaurdquo Rangifer vol 24 no 15 pp 47ndash52 2004

[5] T Srebotnjak G Carr A de Sherbinin and C Rickwood ldquoAglobalWater Quality Index and hot-deck imputation of missingdatardquo Ecological Indicators vol 17 pp 108ndash119 2012

[6] S Su R Xiao X Mi X Xu Z Zhang and J Wu ldquoSpatial deter-minants of hazardous chemicals in surface water of QiantangRiver Chinardquo Ecological Indicators vol 24 pp 375ndash381 2013

[7] M S Islam S Han M K Ahmed and S Masunaga ldquoAssess-ment of trace metal contamination in water and sediment ofsome rivers in Bangladeshrdquo Journal of Water and EnvironmentTechnology vol 12 no 2 pp 109ndash121 2014

[8] B Koukal J Dominik D Vignati et al ldquoAssessment of waterquality and toxicity of polluted Rivers Fez and Sebou in theregion of Fez (Morocco)rdquo Environmental Pollution vol 131 no1 pp 163ndash172 2004

[9] K M Mohiuddin H M Zakir K Otomo S Sharmin and NShikazono ldquoGeochemical distribution of trace metal pollutantsin water and sediments of downstream of an urban riverrdquoInternational Journal of Environmental Science amp Technologyvol 7 no 1 pp 17ndash28 2010

[10] R J Gibbs ldquoThe geochemistry of the Amazon River systempart I The factors that control the salinity and the compositionand concentration of the suspended solidsrdquo Geological Societyof America Bulletin vol 78 no 10 pp 1203ndash1232 1967

[11] J Gaillardet B Dupre P Louvat and C J Allegre ldquoGlobalsilicate weathering and CO2 consumption rates deduced fromthe chemistry of large riversrdquoChemical Geology vol 159 no 1-4pp 3ndash30 1999

[12] J Zhang Z F Zhang S M Liu Y Wu H Xiong and HT Chen ldquoHuman impacts on the large world rivers wouldthe Changjiang (Yangtze River) be an illustrationrdquo GlobalBiogeochemical Cycles vol 13 no 4 pp 1099ndash1105 1999

[13] C J Vorosmarty P McIntyre M O Gessner et al ldquoGlobalthreats to human water security and river biodiversityrdquo Naturevol 467 no 7315 pp 555ndash561 2010

[14] N E PetersEvaluation of Environmental Factors Affecting Yieldsof Major Dissolved Ions of sTreams in the United States USGPO1984

[15] M Meybeck Man and River Interface Multiple Impacts onWater and Particulates Chemistry Illustrated in the Seine RiverBasin Oceans Rivers and Lakes Energy and Substance Transfersat Interfaces Springer Berlin Germany 1998

[16] S Roy J Gaillardet and C J Allegre ldquoGeochemistry of dis-solved and suspended loads of the Seine river France anthro-pogenic impact carbonate and silicate weatheringrdquoGeochimicaet Cosmochimica Acta vol 63 no 9 pp 1277ndash1292 1999

[17] C Flintrop BHohlmann T Jasper et al ldquoAnatomyof pollutionrivers of north Rhine-Westphalia Germanyrdquo American Journalof Science vol 296 no 1 pp 58ndash98 1996

[18] ENPHO Monitoring and Assessment of Water Quality in theShivapuri Watershed HMGFAO 1997

[19] DHMWater Quality Summary 1992ndash2006 Ministry of Scienceand Technology Government of Nepal 2008

[20] M P Bhatt andW HMcDowell ldquoEvolution of chemistry alongthe Bagmati drainage network in Kathmandu valleyrdquoWater Airand Soil Pollution vol 185 no 1 pp 165ndash176 2007

[21] P R Kannel S Lee S R Kanel S P Khan and Y-S LeeldquoSpatial-temporal variation and comparative assessment ofwater qualities of urban river system a case study of the riverBagmati (Nepal)rdquo Environmental Monitoring and Assessmentvol 129 no 1 pp 433ndash459 2007

[22] M P Bhatt and K H Gardner ldquoVariation in DOC andtrace metal concentration along the heavily urbanized basin inKathmandu Valley Nepalrdquo Environmental Geology vol 58 no4 pp 867ndash876 2009

[23] M P Bhatt W H McDowell K H Gardner and J HartmannldquoChemistry of the heavily urbanized Bagmati River system inKathmandu Valley Nepal export of organic matter nutrientsmajor ions silica and metalsrdquo Environmental Earth Sciencesvol 71 no 2 pp 911ndash922 2014

[24] H G Dill B D Kharel V K Singh B Piya K Busch andMGeyh ldquoSedimentology and paleogeographic evolution of theintermontaneKathmandu basin Nepal during the Pliocene andQuaternaryrdquo Journal of Asian Earth Sciences vol 20 pp 255ndash266 2001

[25] R Fujii and H Sakai ldquoPaleoclimatic changes during the last25 myr recorded in the Kathmandu Basin Central NepalHimalayasrdquo Journal of Asian Earth Sciences vol 20 no 3 pp255ndash266 2002

[26] B Pradhan Water quality assessment of the Bagmati River andits tributaries Kathmandu Valley Nepal 1998

[27] O M Shrestha A Koirala J Hanisch K Busch M Kerntkeand S Jager ldquoA geo-environmental map for the sustainabledevelopment of the Kathmandu Valley NepalrdquoGeoJournal vol49 no 2 pp 165ndash172 1999

[28] K Kc Optimizing Water use in Kathmandu valley (ADB TA-3700) Final Draft Report on GroundwaterHydrogeology inKathmandu Valley 2003

[29] O Shrestha A Koirala S Karmacharya et al Engineeringand Environmental Geology Map of the Kathmandu ValleyDepartment of Mines and Geology HMG Kathmandu Nepal1998

[30] I Juttner S Sharma B M Dahal S J Ormerod P J Chi-monides and E J Cox ldquoDiatoms as indicators of stream qualityin the Kathmandu Valley and Middle Hills of Nepal and IndiardquoFreshwater Biology vol 48 no 11 pp 2065ndash2084 2003

[31] B Rimal ldquoApplication of remote sensing and gis land uselandcover change in Kathmandu Metropolitan City Nepalrdquo Journalof Theoretical amp Applied Information Technology vol 23 no 2pp 80ndash86 2011

[32] R Paudyal S Kang C M Sharma et al ldquoMajor ions and traceelements of two selected rivers near Everest region southernHimalayas Nepalrdquo Environmental Earth Sciences vol 75 no 1article 46 pp 1ndash11 2016

[33] L Tripathee S Kang J Huang et al ldquoIonic composition ofwet precipitation over the southern slope of central HimalayasNepalrdquo Environmental Science and Pollution Research vol 21no 4 pp 2677ndash2687 2014

[34] L Tripathee S Kang C M Sharma et al ldquoPreliminary healthrisk assessment of potentially toxic metals in surface waterof the Himalayan Rivers Nepalrdquo Bulletin of EnvironmentalContamination and Toxicology 2016


[35] L Tripathee S Kang J Huang et al ldquoConcentrations of traceelements in wet deposition over the central Himalayas NepalrdquoAtmospheric Environment vol 95 pp 231ndash238 2014

[36] A Franco-Urıa C Lopez-Mateo E Roca andM L Fernandez-Marcos ldquoSource identification of heavy metals in pasturelandby multivariate analysis in NW Spainrdquo Journal of HazardousMaterials vol 165 no 1ndash3 pp 1008ndash1015 2009

[37] K Kyllonen V Karlsson and T Ruoho-Airola ldquoTrace elementdeposition and trends during a ten year period in FinlandrdquoScience of the Total Environment vol 407 no 7 pp 2260ndash22692009

[38] Z Cong S Kang Y Zhang and X Li ldquoAtmospheric wetdeposition of trace elements to central Tibetan PlateaurdquoAppliedGeochemistry vol 25 no 9 pp 1415ndash1421 2010

[39] C M Sharma S Kang M Sillanpaa et al ldquoMercury andselected trace elements from a remote (gosainkunda) and anurban (Phewa) Lake Waters of Nepalrdquo Water Air and SoilPollution vol 226 article no 6 2015

[40] C Li S Kang and Q Zhang ldquoElemental composition ofTibetan Plateau top soils and its effect on evaluating atmo-spheric pollution transportrdquo Environmental Pollution vol 157no 8-9 pp 2261ndash2265 2009

[41] S R Taylor and S M McLennan ldquoThe geochemical evolutionof the continental crustrdquo Reviews of Geophysics vol 33 no 2pp 241ndash265 1995

[42] L Tripathee S Kang D Rupakheti et al ldquoSpatial distributionsources and risk assessment of potentially toxic trace elementsand rare earth elements in soils of the Langtang HimalayaNepalrdquo Environmental Earth Sciences vol 75 article 1332 2016

[43] G F Birch and M A Olmos ldquoSediment-bound heavy metalsas indicators of human influence and biological risk in coastalwater bodiesrdquo ICES Journal of Marine Science vol 65 no 8 pp1407ndash1413 2008

[44] B Wu D Y Zhao H Y Jia Y Zhang X X Zhang and S PCheng ldquoPreliminary risk assessment of trace metal pollution insurface water from Yangtze River in Nanjing section ChinardquoBulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology vol82 no 4 pp 405ndash409 2009

[45] S Muhammad M T Shah and S Khan ldquoHealth risk assess-ment of heavy metals and their source apportionment in drink-ingwater of Kohistan region northern PakistanrdquoMicrochemicalJournal vol 98 no 2 pp 334ndash343 2011

[46] S Song F Li J Li and Q Liu ldquoDistribution and contaminationrisk assessment of dissolved tracemetals in surface waters in theyellow river deltardquo Human and Ecological Risk Assessment vol19 no 6 pp 1514ndash1529 2013

[47] USEPA Risk Assessment Guidance for Superfund Volume IHuman Health Evaluation Manual (Part E Supplemental Guid-ance for Dermal Risk Assessment) EPA540R99005 OSWER92857-02EP PB99-963312 Office of Superfund Remediationand Technology Innovation USA July 2004

[48] US EPA ldquoGuidelines for carcinogen risk assessmentrdquo Tech RepEPA630P-03001F Risk Assessment ForumWashington DCUSA 2005

[49] S C McCutcheon J L Martin T O Barnwell Jr and DMaidment ldquoWater qualityrdquo inHandbook of Hydrology pp 1111ndash1173 McGraw-Hill New York NY USA 1992

[50] MMeybeck and RHelmer ldquoThe quality of rivers frompristinestage to global pollutionrdquo Global and Planetary Change vol 1no 4 pp 283ndash309 1989

[51] A T Herlihy J L Stoddard and C B Johnson ldquoThe relation-ship between stream chemistry and watershed land cover datain the mid-Atlantic Region USrdquo Water Air and Soil Pollutionvol 105 no 1 pp 377ndash386 1998

[52] F Wendland H Albert M Bach and R Schmidt ldquoPotentialnitrate pollution of groundwater in Germany a supraregionaldifferentiated modelrdquo Environmental Geology vol 24 no 1 pp1ndash6 1994

[53] U von Gunten and J Zobrist ldquoBiogeochemical changes ingroundwater-infiltration systems column studiesrdquo Geochimicaet Cosmochimica Acta vol 57 no 16 pp 3895ndash3906 1993

[54] R Collins and A Jenkins ldquoThe impact of agricultural landuse on stream chemistry in the Middle Hills of the HimalayasNepalrdquo Journal of Hydrology vol 185 no 1ndash4 pp 71ndash86 1996

[55] L Sorme and R Lagerkvist ldquoSources of heavy metals in urbanwastewater in Stockholmrdquo Science of the Total Environment vol298 no 1ndash3 pp 131ndash145 2002

[56] P Le Pape S Ayrault and C Quantin ldquoTrace element behaviorand partition versus urbanization gradient in an urban river(Orge River France)rdquo Journal of Hydrology vol 472-473 pp99ndash110 2012

[57] WHO Guidelines for DrinkingWater Quality Recommenda-tions World Health Organization Geneva Switzerland 2011

[58] X Huang M Sillanpaa E T Gjessing S Peraniemi and RD Vogt ldquoEnvironmental impact of mining activities on thesurface water quality in Tibet gyama valleyrdquo Science of the TotalEnvironment vol 408 no 19 pp 4177ndash4184 2010

[59] D Barałkiewicz and J Siepak ldquoChromium nickel and cobalt inenvironmental samples and existing legal normsrdquo Polish Journalof Environmental Studies vol 8 no 4 pp 201ndash208 1999

[60] J P Wise Sr R Payne S S Wise et al ldquoA global assessmentof chromium pollution using sperm whales (Physeter macro-cephalus) as an indicator speciesrdquo Chemosphere vol 75 no 11pp 1461ndash1467 2009

[61] H-F Sun Y-H Li Y-F Ji L-S YangW-YWang andH-R LildquoEnvironmental contamination and health hazard of lead andcadmium around Chatian mercury mining deposit in westernHunan Province Chinardquo Transactions of Nonferrous MetalsSociety of China vol 20 no 2 pp 308ndash314 2010

[62] C K Adokoh E A Obodai D K Essumang Y Serfor-ArmahB J B Nyarko and A Asabere-Ameyaw ldquoStatistical evalua-tion of environmental contamination distribution and sourceassessment of heavy metals (Aluminum Arsenic CadmiumandMercury) in some lagoons and an estuary along the coastalbelt of Ghanardquo Archives of Environmental Contamination andToxicology vol 61 no 3 pp 389ndash400 2011

[63] K Adachi and Y Tainosho ldquoCharacterization of heavy metalparticles embedded in tire dustrdquoEnvironment International vol30 no 8 pp 1009ndash1017 2004

[64] J O Nriagu ldquoA history of global metal pollutionrdquo Science vol272 no 5259 pp 223ndash224 1996

[65] J Zayed A Guessous J Lambert G Carrier and S PhilippeldquoEstimation of annual Mn emissions from MMT source in theCanadian environment and the Mn pollution index in eachprovincerdquo Science of the Total Environment vol 312 no 1ndash3 pp147ndash154 2003

[66] T Kikuchi T Furuichi H T Hai and S Tanaka ldquoAssessmentof heavymetal pollution in river water of Hanoi Vietnam usingmultivariate analysesrdquoBulletin of Environmental Contaminationand Toxicology vol 83 no 4 pp 575ndash582 2009


[67] A Z Garizi V Sheikh and A Sadoddin ldquoAssessment ofseasonal variations of chemical characteristics in surface waterusing multivariate statistical methodsrdquo International Journal ofEnvironmental Science amp Technology vol 8 no 3 pp 581ndash5922011

[68] J M Pacyna A Semb and J E Hanssen ldquoEmission and long-range transport of trace elements in EuroperdquoTellus vol 36B no3 pp 163ndash178 1984

[69] Y Teng S Ni C Zhang J Wang X Lin and Y HuangldquoEnvironmental geochemistry and ecological risk of vanadiumpollution in Panzhihua mining and smelting area SichuanChinardquo Chinese Journal of Geochemistry vol 25 no 4 pp 379ndash385 2006

[70] Z Karim ldquoRisk assessment of dissolved tracemetals in drinkingwater of Karachi Pakistanrdquo Bulletin of Environmental Contam-ination and Toxicology vol 86 no 6 pp 676ndash678 2011

[71] E De Miguel I Iribarren E Chacon A Ordonez andS Charlesworth ldquoRisk-based evaluation of the exposure ofchildren to trace elements in playgrounds in Madrid (Spain)rdquoChemosphere vol 66 no 3 pp 505ndash513 2007

[72] Q Meng J Zhang Z Zhang and T Wu ldquoGeochemistry ofdissolved trace elements and heavy metals in the Dan RiverDrainage (China) distribution sources and water qualityassessmentrdquo Environmental Science and Pollution Research pp8091ndash8103 2016

[73] S Li and Q Zhang ldquoRisk assessment and seasonal variationsof dissolved trace elements and heavy metals in the Upper HanRiver Chinardquo Journal of Hazardous Materials vol 181 no 1ndash3pp 1051ndash1058 2010

Submit your manuscripts athttpwwwhindawicom

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Inorganic ChemistryInternational Journal of

Hindawi Publishing Corporation httpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

International Journal ofPhotoenergy


Carbohydrate Chemistry

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Chemistry


Advances in

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Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom

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Volume 2014

Bioinorganic Chemistry and ApplicationsHindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

SpectroscopyInternational Journal of


The Scientific World JournalHindawi Publishing Corporation httpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Medicinal ChemistryInternational Journal of


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Applied ChemistryJournal of



Theoretical ChemistryJournal of


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Analytical ChemistryInternational Journal of


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Organic Chemistry International

ElectrochemistryInternational Journal of



CatalystsJournal of


and buildings and deforestation are known to affect waterchemistry [10ndash13] Similarly increase in ions concentrationcould be a result of increased population for example in theUnited States [14] France and Germany [15ndash17]

Water resources from the Bagmati River System areimportant for small scale hydroelectricity and irrigation andas drinking water sources About 82 of water volume isextracted daily from the surface water sources for drinkingwater supply in the Kathmandu Valley On the other handthese rivers are extensively being used as dumping sites forsolid wastes outlets for domestic sewerage and industrialand agricultural effluents Also the river banks are beingencroached upon by slum dwellers without any restrictionsfrom the government Furthermore due to heavy traffic inthe city the demands of new road channel are increasinghence construction of roads by the banks of river withoutproper study is common these days All these negativeapproaches in addition to uncontrolled and mismanagedgrowth of urban population are affecting the balance ofthe riverine ecology in the valley In addition the uncon-trolled quarrying of sand has tremendously affected the self-treatment capacity of the rivers

In this paper we focus on the contribution of chemicalload from the tributaries of Bagmati into its main streamIn the past there have been few studies about the waterchemistry of main stream of Bagmati River which havefocused mainly on nutrients major ions and trace elementswith limited sampling points [18ndash23] However there is alack of information on the chemistry of the tributaries ofBagmati River their possible sources within the valley andtrace metals induced human risk assessments This studyfor the first time provides the detailed information fromthe tributaries of Bagmati water quality health assessmentin the Bagmati River during the current state of rapidurbanization and socioeconomic development including therisk assessment from trace metals

2 Materials and Methods

21 Study Area

211 Geological Settings This study was conducted in theBagmati River and its tributaries in the Kathmandu ValleyCentral Nepal (Figure 1) Kathmandu lies in the middlemountain region of Nepal It is roughly circular bowl-shapedvalley with diameter of about 25 to 30 km [24] It coversan area of approximately 650 km2 with an average altitudeof 1340m [25] The Bagmati is not a snow-fed river andmost of its water is contributed by runoff The origin ofBagmati is at Shivapuri and surrounding mountain rangeThere are 24 main tributaries originating from Mahabharatand Siwalik range which feed the Bagmati River [26] TheBagmati River system drains about 3500 km2 before crossingthe boundary of India and eventually draining into theGanges [23] The Bagmati river system consists of threemajor rivers flowing through the Kathmandu Valley namelyBagmati Bishnumati and Manahara Kathmandu Valleywas a lake during PlioPleistocene times and silted up bylacustrine and deltaic river sediments [27] The basin filled

sediments are mainly loam and composed of unconsolidatedclay silt sand and gravels The headwaters of Bagmatiriver contain mica gneiss and biotite schist with muscovitewhereas the southern part of the river consists of thick clayformation and basal gravel [28] and the bed rock downstreamcontains fine grained phyllite quartz containing argillaceouslimestone slates shales claystones and mudstones [29 30]In this study we consider samples from 5 major tributaries(Manahara Dhobi Tukucha Bishnumati and Balkhu Khola)and some minor tributaries (Mahadev Khola Hanumanteand Godavari) The study stretch in the main stream ofBagmati River is about 37 km in length from Sundarijal toKhokana

212 Land-Use There have been rapid urbanization in Kath-mandu Valley as it is the capital city and center of attractionto the Nepalese population In 1976 the total urbanbuilt-uparea inKathmanduwas about 17 but in 2009 the percentageincreased to almost 67 In the same period the Forest Coverarea was reduced from 14 to 23 [31] This can have animmense effect on the river water quality

The climate of Kathmandu Valley is subtropical cooltemperate with maximum temperature of 356∘C in Apriland minimum of minus25 in January and 75 annual averagehumidity The temperature on average is 19∘C to 27∘C insummer and 2∘C to 20∘C inwinter the average rainfall is 1400millimeters most of which falls during monsoon Monsoonis generally observed during JunendashSeptember

KathmanduValley comprises three districts KathmanduLalitpur and BhaktapurThe valley encloses the entire area ofBhaktapur 85 of Kathmandu and 50 of Lalitpur DistrictThe total population of Kathmandu Valley is more than 25million according to the population census of 2011

22 Sampling and Laboratory Analysis Water samples werecollected from the Bagmati River and its tributaries duringOctober 2013 (after monsoon) The analyses were performedfor trace elements and major ions Alltogether 34 sam-ples were collected from different tributaries of Bagmatiriver basin In situ measurements were carried out for airtemperature water temperature pH conductivity turbidityDO and TDS A WagTech pH meter (WAG-WE30200)WagTech conductivitymeter (WAG-WE30210) and turbiditymeter (WAG-WE30210) were used in the field for in situmeasurements Water samples were collected into 20mLultraclean HDPE (High Density Polyethylene) bottles afterfiltering through 045120583m polypropylene membrane filtersThe sampling bottles were rinsed with river waters thricebefore the original samples were taken All samples weretaken at a depth of approximately 30 cm below water surfaceThe sampled bottles were packed inside the double polyethy-lene zip-lock bags and kept in refrigerator at 4∘C until thelaboratory analysis [32]

All samples for trace elements were acidified to pH lt2 with ultrapure HNO3 before analyses in order to dissolvethe trace elements and to prevent their adsorption on thewalls of the bottles The samples were organized for thedifferent laboratory analysis Samples were analyzed for 17


BG-9BG-8

BG-7

BG-6BG-4

BG-3

BG-2BG-1

BG-34

BG-33

BG-32BG-31

BG-30

BG-29BG-28 BG-27BG-26

BG-25

BG-24BG-23BG-22

BG-21

BG-20

BG-19

BG-18

BG-17

BG-16

BG-14

N

Elevation (m)value

High 2723

Low 1238


India

China

Nepal

85∘20

9984000998400998400E

27∘50

9984000998400998400N

85∘30

9984000998400998400E

27∘40

9984000998400998400N

27∘30

9984000998400998400N

85∘20

9984000998400998400E 85

∘30

9984000998400998400E

27∘40

9984000998400998400N

27∘50

9984000998400998400N

27∘30

9984000998400998400N

Sampling points

River








2minus SO42minus





(1)





BW times AT


BW times AT

(2)



HQs = 119863RfD (3)































0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

Distance (Km)minus5

ConductivityTDS

(a)

0

2

4

6

8

10

Diss

olve

d ox

ygen

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40Distance (Km)

minus5

Conductivity

(b)



















0831662490000

00260052

244872

01836

001734

0100200

01326

000036072

001734

0065

13002652

000102

01632

000024048

000000390078

000021042

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40


Li


Be

Sc

Ti

V

Mn

Cr

Co

Ni

Cu

Zn

Ga

Rb

Y

Nb

Cdminus5

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40minus5

Con

cent

ratio

n (120583

gL)







01

1

10

100

1000

10000

Enric

hmen

t fac

tor

Elements









4 Conclusion






Min 384119864 minus 04 644119864 minus 07

Mean 187119864 minus 03 313119864 minus 06

V 1 001Max 102119864 minus 01 861119864 minus 03

Min 707119864 minus 03 594119864 minus 04

Mean 392119864 minus 02 329119864 minus 03


Min 716119864 minus 04 150119864 minus 05

Mean 145119864 minus 01 304119864 minus 03


Min 575119864 minus 03 193119864 minus 03

Mean 104119864 minus 01 889119864 minus 03


Min 393119864 minus 03 132119864 minus 03

Mean 389119864 minus 02 351119864 minus 02


Min 329119864 minus 05 205119864 minus 08

Mean 200119864 minus 03 124119864 minus 06


Min 122119864 minus 04 341119864 minus 07

Mean 470119864 minus 03 132119864 minus 05


Min 378119864 minus 04 953119864 minus 07

Mean 210119864 minus 03 530119864 minus 06


Min 203119864 minus 04 448119864 minus 07

Mean 182119864 minus 03 402119864 minus 06


Min 110119864 minus 04 921119864 minus 06

Mean 129119864 minus 02 108119864 minus 03


Min 447119864 minus 02 188119864 minus 03

Mean 224119864 minus 01 942119864 minus 03


Competing Interests


Acknowledgments


References























































































Journal of

Chemistry


Advances in

Physical Chemistry



Journal of

Volume 2014














Journal of

Spectroscopy



Journal of


Quantum Chemistry






CatalystsJournal of


BG-9BG-8

BG-7

BG-6BG-4

BG-3

BG-2BG-1

BG-34

BG-33

BG-32BG-31

BG-30

BG-29BG-28 BG-27BG-26

BG-25

BG-24BG-23BG-22

BG-21

BG-20

BG-19

BG-18

BG-17

BG-16

BG-14

N

Elevation (m)value

High 2723

Low 1238


India

China

Nepal

85∘20

9984000998400998400E

27∘50

9984000998400998400N

85∘30

9984000998400998400E

27∘40

9984000998400998400N

27∘30

9984000998400998400N

85∘20

9984000998400998400E 85

∘30

9984000998400998400E

27∘40

9984000998400998400N

27∘50

9984000998400998400N

27∘30

9984000998400998400N

Sampling points

River








2minus SO42minus





(1)





BW times AT


BW times AT

(2)



HQs = 119863RfD (3)































0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

Distance (Km)minus5

ConductivityTDS

(a)

0

2

4

6

8

10

Diss

olve

d ox

ygen

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40Distance (Km)

minus5

Conductivity

(b)



















0831662490000

00260052

244872

01836

001734

0100200

01326

000036072

001734

0065

13002652

000102

01632

000024048

000000390078

000021042

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40


Li


Be

Sc

Ti

V

Mn

Cr

Co

Ni

Cu

Zn

Ga

Rb

Y

Nb

Cdminus5

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40minus5

Con

cent

ratio

n (120583

gL)







01

1

10

100

1000

10000

Enric

hmen

t fac

tor

Elements









4 Conclusion






Min 384119864 minus 04 644119864 minus 07

Mean 187119864 minus 03 313119864 minus 06

V 1 001Max 102119864 minus 01 861119864 minus 03

Min 707119864 minus 03 594119864 minus 04

Mean 392119864 minus 02 329119864 minus 03


Min 716119864 minus 04 150119864 minus 05

Mean 145119864 minus 01 304119864 minus 03


Min 575119864 minus 03 193119864 minus 03

Mean 104119864 minus 01 889119864 minus 03


Min 393119864 minus 03 132119864 minus 03

Mean 389119864 minus 02 351119864 minus 02


Min 329119864 minus 05 205119864 minus 08

Mean 200119864 minus 03 124119864 minus 06


Min 122119864 minus 04 341119864 minus 07

Mean 470119864 minus 03 132119864 minus 05


Min 378119864 minus 04 953119864 minus 07

Mean 210119864 minus 03 530119864 minus 06


Min 203119864 minus 04 448119864 minus 07

Mean 182119864 minus 03 402119864 minus 06


Min 110119864 minus 04 921119864 minus 06

Mean 129119864 minus 02 108119864 minus 03


Min 447119864 minus 02 188119864 minus 03

Mean 224119864 minus 01 942119864 minus 03


Competing Interests


Acknowledgments


References























































































Journal of

Chemistry


Advances in

Physical Chemistry



Journal of

Volume 2014














Journal of

Spectroscopy



Journal of


Quantum Chemistry






CatalystsJournal of







2minus SO42minus





(1)





BW times AT


BW times AT

(2)



HQs = 119863RfD (3)































0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

Distance (Km)minus5

ConductivityTDS

(a)

0

2

4

6

8

10

Diss

olve

d ox

ygen

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40Distance (Km)

minus5

Conductivity

(b)



















0831662490000

00260052

244872

01836

001734

0100200

01326

000036072

001734

0065

13002652

000102

01632

000024048

000000390078

000021042

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40


Li


Be

Sc

Ti

V

Mn

Cr

Co

Ni

Cu

Zn

Ga

Rb

Y

Nb

Cdminus5

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40minus5

Con

cent

ratio

n (120583

gL)







01

1

10

100

1000

10000

Enric

hmen

t fac

tor

Elements









4 Conclusion






Min 384119864 minus 04 644119864 minus 07

Mean 187119864 minus 03 313119864 minus 06

V 1 001Max 102119864 minus 01 861119864 minus 03

Min 707119864 minus 03 594119864 minus 04

Mean 392119864 minus 02 329119864 minus 03


Min 716119864 minus 04 150119864 minus 05

Mean 145119864 minus 01 304119864 minus 03


Min 575119864 minus 03 193119864 minus 03

Mean 104119864 minus 01 889119864 minus 03


Min 393119864 minus 03 132119864 minus 03

Mean 389119864 minus 02 351119864 minus 02


Min 329119864 minus 05 205119864 minus 08

Mean 200119864 minus 03 124119864 minus 06


Min 122119864 minus 04 341119864 minus 07

Mean 470119864 minus 03 132119864 minus 05


Min 378119864 minus 04 953119864 minus 07

Mean 210119864 minus 03 530119864 minus 06


Min 203119864 minus 04 448119864 minus 07

Mean 182119864 minus 03 402119864 minus 06


Min 110119864 minus 04 921119864 minus 06

Mean 129119864 minus 02 108119864 minus 03


Min 447119864 minus 02 188119864 minus 03

Mean 224119864 minus 01 942119864 minus 03


Competing Interests


Acknowledgments


References























































































Journal of

Chemistry


Advances in

Physical Chemistry



Journal of

Volume 2014














Journal of

Spectroscopy



Journal of


Quantum Chemistry






CatalystsJournal of




























0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

Distance (Km)minus5

ConductivityTDS

(a)

0

2

4

6

8

10

Diss

olve

d ox

ygen

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40Distance (Km)

minus5

Conductivity

(b)



















0831662490000

00260052

244872

01836

001734

0100200

01326

000036072

001734

0065

13002652

000102

01632

000024048

000000390078

000021042

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40


Li


Be

Sc

Ti

V

Mn

Cr

Co

Ni

Cu

Zn

Ga

Rb

Y

Nb

Cdminus5

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40minus5

Con

cent

ratio

n (120583

gL)







01

1

10

100

1000

10000

Enric

hmen

t fac

tor

Elements









4 Conclusion






Min 384119864 minus 04 644119864 minus 07

Mean 187119864 minus 03 313119864 minus 06

V 1 001Max 102119864 minus 01 861119864 minus 03

Min 707119864 minus 03 594119864 minus 04

Mean 392119864 minus 02 329119864 minus 03


Min 716119864 minus 04 150119864 minus 05

Mean 145119864 minus 01 304119864 minus 03


Min 575119864 minus 03 193119864 minus 03

Mean 104119864 minus 01 889119864 minus 03


Min 393119864 minus 03 132119864 minus 03

Mean 389119864 minus 02 351119864 minus 02


Min 329119864 minus 05 205119864 minus 08

Mean 200119864 minus 03 124119864 minus 06


Min 122119864 minus 04 341119864 minus 07

Mean 470119864 minus 03 132119864 minus 05


Min 378119864 minus 04 953119864 minus 07

Mean 210119864 minus 03 530119864 minus 06


Min 203119864 minus 04 448119864 minus 07

Mean 182119864 minus 03 402119864 minus 06


Min 110119864 minus 04 921119864 minus 06

Mean 129119864 minus 02 108119864 minus 03


Min 447119864 minus 02 188119864 minus 03

Mean 224119864 minus 01 942119864 minus 03


Competing Interests


Acknowledgments


References























































































Journal of

Chemistry


Advances in

Physical Chemistry



Journal of

Volume 2014














Journal of

Spectroscopy



Journal of


Quantum Chemistry






CatalystsJournal of


0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

Distance (Km)minus5

ConductivityTDS

(a)

0

2

4

6

8

10

Diss

olve

d ox

ygen

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40Distance (Km)

minus5

Conductivity

(b)



















0831662490000

00260052

244872

01836

001734

0100200

01326

000036072

001734

0065

13002652

000102

01632

000024048

000000390078

000021042

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40


Li


Be

Sc

Ti

V

Mn

Cr

Co

Ni

Cu

Zn

Ga

Rb

Y

Nb

Cdminus5

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40minus5

Con

cent

ratio

n (120583

gL)







01

1

10

100

1000

10000

Enric

hmen

t fac

tor

Elements









4 Conclusion






Min 384119864 minus 04 644119864 minus 07

Mean 187119864 minus 03 313119864 minus 06

V 1 001Max 102119864 minus 01 861119864 minus 03

Min 707119864 minus 03 594119864 minus 04

Mean 392119864 minus 02 329119864 minus 03


Min 716119864 minus 04 150119864 minus 05

Mean 145119864 minus 01 304119864 minus 03


Min 575119864 minus 03 193119864 minus 03

Mean 104119864 minus 01 889119864 minus 03


Min 393119864 minus 03 132119864 minus 03

Mean 389119864 minus 02 351119864 minus 02


Min 329119864 minus 05 205119864 minus 08

Mean 200119864 minus 03 124119864 minus 06


Min 122119864 minus 04 341119864 minus 07

Mean 470119864 minus 03 132119864 minus 05


Min 378119864 minus 04 953119864 minus 07

Mean 210119864 minus 03 530119864 minus 06


Min 203119864 minus 04 448119864 minus 07

Mean 182119864 minus 03 402119864 minus 06


Min 110119864 minus 04 921119864 minus 06

Mean 129119864 minus 02 108119864 minus 03


Min 447119864 minus 02 188119864 minus 03

Mean 224119864 minus 01 942119864 minus 03


Competing Interests


Acknowledgments


References























































































Journal of

Chemistry


Advances in

Physical Chemistry



Journal of

Volume 2014














Journal of

Spectroscopy



Journal of


Quantum Chemistry






CatalystsJournal of













0831662490000

00260052

244872

01836

001734

0100200

01326

000036072

001734

0065

13002652

000102

01632

000024048

000000390078

000021042

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40


Li


Be

Sc

Ti

V

Mn

Cr

Co

Ni

Cu

Zn

Ga

Rb

Y

Nb

Cdminus5

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40minus5

Con

cent

ratio

n (120583

gL)







01

1

10

100

1000

10000

Enric

hmen

t fac

tor

Elements









4 Conclusion






Min 384119864 minus 04 644119864 minus 07

Mean 187119864 minus 03 313119864 minus 06

V 1 001Max 102119864 minus 01 861119864 minus 03

Min 707119864 minus 03 594119864 minus 04

Mean 392119864 minus 02 329119864 minus 03


Min 716119864 minus 04 150119864 minus 05

Mean 145119864 minus 01 304119864 minus 03


Min 575119864 minus 03 193119864 minus 03

Mean 104119864 minus 01 889119864 minus 03


Min 393119864 minus 03 132119864 minus 03

Mean 389119864 minus 02 351119864 minus 02


Min 329119864 minus 05 205119864 minus 08

Mean 200119864 minus 03 124119864 minus 06


Min 122119864 minus 04 341119864 minus 07

Mean 470119864 minus 03 132119864 minus 05


Min 378119864 minus 04 953119864 minus 07

Mean 210119864 minus 03 530119864 minus 06


Min 203119864 minus 04 448119864 minus 07

Mean 182119864 minus 03 402119864 minus 06


Min 110119864 minus 04 921119864 minus 06

Mean 129119864 minus 02 108119864 minus 03


Min 447119864 minus 02 188119864 minus 03

Mean 224119864 minus 01 942119864 minus 03


Competing Interests


Acknowledgments


References























































































Journal of

Chemistry


Advances in

Physical Chemistry



Journal of

Volume 2014














Journal of

Spectroscopy



Journal of


Quantum Chemistry






CatalystsJournal of


0831662490000

00260052

244872

01836

001734

0100200

01326

000036072

001734

0065

13002652

000102

01632

000024048

000000390078

000021042

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40


Li


Be

Sc

Ti

V

Mn

Cr

Co

Ni

Cu

Zn

Ga

Rb

Y

Nb

Cdminus5

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40minus5

Con

cent

ratio

n (120583

gL)







01

1

10

100

1000

10000

Enric

hmen

t fac

tor

Elements









4 Conclusion






Min 384119864 minus 04 644119864 minus 07

Mean 187119864 minus 03 313119864 minus 06

V 1 001Max 102119864 minus 01 861119864 minus 03

Min 707119864 minus 03 594119864 minus 04

Mean 392119864 minus 02 329119864 minus 03


Min 716119864 minus 04 150119864 minus 05

Mean 145119864 minus 01 304119864 minus 03


Min 575119864 minus 03 193119864 minus 03

Mean 104119864 minus 01 889119864 minus 03


Min 393119864 minus 03 132119864 minus 03

Mean 389119864 minus 02 351119864 minus 02


Min 329119864 minus 05 205119864 minus 08

Mean 200119864 minus 03 124119864 minus 06


Min 122119864 minus 04 341119864 minus 07

Mean 470119864 minus 03 132119864 minus 05


Min 378119864 minus 04 953119864 minus 07

Mean 210119864 minus 03 530119864 minus 06


Min 203119864 minus 04 448119864 minus 07

Mean 182119864 minus 03 402119864 minus 06


Min 110119864 minus 04 921119864 minus 06

Mean 129119864 minus 02 108119864 minus 03


Min 447119864 minus 02 188119864 minus 03

Mean 224119864 minus 01 942119864 minus 03


Competing Interests


Acknowledgments


References























































































Journal of

Chemistry


Advances in

Physical Chemistry



Journal of

Volume 2014














Journal of

Spectroscopy



Journal of


Quantum Chemistry






CatalystsJournal of



01

1

10

100

1000

10000

Enric

hmen

t fac

tor

Elements









4 Conclusion






Min 384119864 minus 04 644119864 minus 07

Mean 187119864 minus 03 313119864 minus 06

V 1 001Max 102119864 minus 01 861119864 minus 03

Min 707119864 minus 03 594119864 minus 04

Mean 392119864 minus 02 329119864 minus 03


Min 716119864 minus 04 150119864 minus 05

Mean 145119864 minus 01 304119864 minus 03


Min 575119864 minus 03 193119864 minus 03

Mean 104119864 minus 01 889119864 minus 03


Min 393119864 minus 03 132119864 minus 03

Mean 389119864 minus 02 351119864 minus 02


Min 329119864 minus 05 205119864 minus 08

Mean 200119864 minus 03 124119864 minus 06


Min 122119864 minus 04 341119864 minus 07

Mean 470119864 minus 03 132119864 minus 05


Min 378119864 minus 04 953119864 minus 07

Mean 210119864 minus 03 530119864 minus 06


Min 203119864 minus 04 448119864 minus 07

Mean 182119864 minus 03 402119864 minus 06


Min 110119864 minus 04 921119864 minus 06

Mean 129119864 minus 02 108119864 minus 03


Min 447119864 minus 02 188119864 minus 03

Mean 224119864 minus 01 942119864 minus 03


Competing Interests


Acknowledgments


References























































































Journal of

Chemistry


Advances in

Physical Chemistry



Journal of

Volume 2014














Journal of

Spectroscopy



Journal of


Quantum Chemistry






CatalystsJournal of





Min 384119864 minus 04 644119864 minus 07

Mean 187119864 minus 03 313119864 minus 06

V 1 001Max 102119864 minus 01 861119864 minus 03

Min 707119864 minus 03 594119864 minus 04

Mean 392119864 minus 02 329119864 minus 03


Min 716119864 minus 04 150119864 minus 05

Mean 145119864 minus 01 304119864 minus 03


Min 575119864 minus 03 193119864 minus 03

Mean 104119864 minus 01 889119864 minus 03


Min 393119864 minus 03 132119864 minus 03

Mean 389119864 minus 02 351119864 minus 02


Min 329119864 minus 05 205119864 minus 08

Mean 200119864 minus 03 124119864 minus 06


Min 122119864 minus 04 341119864 minus 07

Mean 470119864 minus 03 132119864 minus 05


Min 378119864 minus 04 953119864 minus 07

Mean 210119864 minus 03 530119864 minus 06


Min 203119864 minus 04 448119864 minus 07

Mean 182119864 minus 03 402119864 minus 06


Min 110119864 minus 04 921119864 minus 06

Mean 129119864 minus 02 108119864 minus 03


Min 447119864 minus 02 188119864 minus 03

Mean 224119864 minus 01 942119864 minus 03


Competing Interests


Acknowledgments


References























































































Journal of

Chemistry


Advances in

Physical Chemistry



Journal of

Volume 2014














Journal of

Spectroscopy



Journal of


Quantum Chemistry






CatalystsJournal of





















































































Journal of

Chemistry


Advances in

Physical Chemistry



Journal of

Volume 2014














Journal of

Spectroscopy



Journal of


Quantum Chemistry






CatalystsJournal of



















































Journal of

Chemistry


Advances in

Physical Chemistry



Journal of

Volume 2014














Journal of

Spectroscopy



Journal of


Quantum Chemistry






CatalystsJournal of


















Journal of

Chemistry


Advances in

Physical Chemistry



Journal of

Volume 2014














Journal of

Spectroscopy



Journal of


Quantum Chemistry






CatalystsJournal of










Journal of

Chemistry


Advances in

Physical Chemistry



Journal of

Volume 2014














Journal of

Spectroscopy



Journal of


Quantum Chemistry






CatalystsJournal of