Seasonal Variation of Heavy Metals in Cochin Estuary and Adjoining Periyar and Muvattupuzha Rivers, Kerala, India

Heavy metal pollution is of particular concern as they have deleterious effects on biota through mobilization and accumulation in various trophic levels. The present study mainly focused on the water pollution by heavy metals in Cochin estuary and two adjoining rivers. The methods include seasonal collection of surface water from the study area and their subsequent heavy metal analysis. The study revealed that the concentrations of heavy metals were high in the Periyar River near the industrial estate and also the concentration was high in premonsoon period. The chemical factories discharges their effluents to Periyar River and it eventually reach in to the Cochin estuary. The flow of water discharged through the river was very low in premonsoon period, which cause the high concentration of metals in lake and river. In Muvattupuzha River the heavy metal concentration was high near the news print factory.