Heavy Metals Under-Reporting in Water Environment Importance of Method Selection

Abstract

Owing to low-cost labour availability, the manufacturing sectors arc moving from developed to less developed countries. Often, the less developed nations are less equipped (as well as aware) for reliable monitoring frameworks. Generally, the standard methods by US EPA are followed for monitoring heavy metal pollution in water environment. Since, the heavy metal determination is method dependent, accuracy and applicability of heavy metal detection were evaluated, which can improve the effectiveness of water management strategies. US EPA methods· 3015A and 3005A were evaluated for their ability to detect heavy metals from aqueous phase. The detection was carried out using Flame Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (FAAS) and Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-AES). The heavy metal recovery using different methods was significantly (P<0.05) different. Recovery of certain heavy metals (Pb, Mn, Cr, and Zn) was significantly low with some standard method. In view of the development of technological solutions for heavy metal pollution mitigation (for water environment), the results of this study offer valuable insights for designing the monitoring studies that can ensure correct determination of heavy metals. The consequences of under-reporting of heavy metals (such as Pb, Mn, Cr and Zn) are discussed in view of their toxicity potential and ecological and other risks.