Heavy metal contamination in bore water due to industrial pollution and polluted and non polluted sea water intrusion in Thoothukudi and Tirunelveli of South Tamil Nadu, India.

This study investigates the pollution vulnerability of bore water in the coastal region of Tirunelveli and Thoothukudi in the state of Tamilnadu, India. There are no industries in the Tirunelveli Coastal area whereas there are many industries in SIPCOT (State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamilnadu) Thoothukudi, and coastal area of Thoothukudi. Bore water from the SIPCOT, coastal area of Thoothukudi and Tirunelveli were collected periodically from July 2006 to May 2008 for this study. These samples were tested and analyzed to find the concentrations of sodium, magnesium, aluminium, potassium, calcium, copper, cadmium, mercury and lead. The toxic cadmium concentration was found in the range of 0.00-0.22 mg Kg⁻¹ at SIPCOT 2 in November 2007, mercury 0.00-0.024 mg Kg⁻¹ and lead 0.00-0.02 mg Kg⁻¹ in SIPCOT 2 in January 2008. The level of contamination is higher than the WHO limits of drinking water standards; but copper and aluminium content are within the limit. On the other hand, the samples taken from bores in Tirunelveli coastal area are non-polluted, and the analysis shows that all the metals are within the limits of WHO standard.