Preliminary assessment and risk analysis of an uncontrolled open dumping site as a major source of heavy metal pollution to an urban water body

The study focuses on the heavy metal pollution due to Brahmapuram MSW which is currently an uncontrolled dumping site for solid waste collected all over Cochin city. The site is located near River Kadambrayar which acts as a source of water for surrounding establishments. Thus, the key objective of the study is to assess the heavy metal pollution caused due to the dumping site in river Kadambrayar and to conduct a risk analysis based on the result obtained. The leachate from the dumping site and the sediment, water samples from River Kadambrayar were analysed using ICP-MS and found that Chromium is the predominant heavy metal in all the samples taken except at the upstream where no heavy metal was detected. With reference to the concentration of Chromium obtained in the water samples a human health risk assessment was conducted according to the USEPA guideline, in which very high oral cancer risk was found for the population irrespective of gender. Whereas the non-cancer risk was found to be negligible for the population. Thus, it is evident that the dumping site is major threat acting as a source of heavy metal to the river.