Assessment of Heavy Metal Contamination and Ecological Risks in Sediments of the Buriganga River, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Assessment of Heavy Metal Contamination and Ecological Risks in Sediments of the Buriganga River, Dhaka, Bangladesh | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Assessment of Heavy Metal Contamination and Ecological Risks in Sediments of the Buriganga River, Dhaka, Bangladesh Md. Emon Pervez, Md. Sabbir Ahmmed, Md. Sohel Rana, Sabbir Ahmed, and 4 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7493657/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 26 Jan, 2026 Read the published version in Environmental Monitoring and Assessment → Version 1 posted 4 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract The untreated industrial waste and sewage have been severely polluting the Buriganga River. The primary sources of these heavy metals are industries including metallurgy, tanneries, electroplating and battery recycling plants. Thus, the aquatic ecosystem and health of the people who depend on this river are under threat due to this pollution. Despite some mitigation efforts, the Buriganga River remains severely contaminated. As a result, continuous monitoring, identification of sources and the implementation of mitigation strategies are required. In this study, surface sediment was collected from 12 sampling sites from both banks of the Buriganga River. The concentrations of six metals including Cr, Cd, Pb, Cu, Co and Ni were determined using an atomic absorption spectrophotometer in evaluating the level of contamination and potential ecological risks in the riverine system. To evaluate the pollution status, several contamination indices, such as contamination factor (C f ), pollution load index (PLI), and ecological risk index (R I ), were utilized. Results indicated severe contamination by Cd, evidenced by its high C f value (3.916), while Pb, Cu, Co and Ni exhibited moderate contamination levels. Cr exhibited minimal contamination due to the relocation of tanning units from Hazaribagh to Savar. The presence of battery, metal-plating and metallurgy industries at site 6A is responsible for the high PLI value. Elevated PLI values at the sampling sites indicate widespread pollution. A R I value of 151.888 indicates a moderate ecological risk, suggesting potential adverse effects on riverine ecosystems and public health. The findings underscore the need for regulatory authorities to take necessary actions to prevent direct discharge of industrial wastes and untreated sewage. Continuous monitoring of heavy metal contamination, investigation of its bioaccumulation in aquatic organisms and the development of innovative remediation methods to restore the ecological health of the riverine system should be the primary topics of future research. Heavy Metal Contamination Buriganga River Industrial Waste Ecological Risk Index Sediment Pollution Pollution Load Index Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Supplementary Files SupportinginformationSeptember192025.docx Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 26 Jan, 2026 Read the published version in Environmental Monitoring and Assessment → Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 30 Sep, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 30 Sep, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 30 Sep, 2025 First submitted to journal 30 Aug, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7493657","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":523140527,"identity":"2aabb729-4c25-4562-b3d0-54238d76dcfb","order_by":0,"name":"Md. 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The primary sources of these heavy metals are industries including metallurgy, tanneries, electroplating and battery recycling plants. Thus, the aquatic ecosystem and health of the people who depend on this river are under threat due to this pollution. Despite some mitigation efforts, the Buriganga River remains severely contaminated. As a result, continuous monitoring, identification of sources and the implementation of mitigation strategies are required. In this study, surface sediment was collected from 12 sampling sites from both banks of the Buriganga River. The concentrations of six metals including Cr, Cd, Pb, Cu, Co and Ni were determined using an atomic absorption spectrophotometer in evaluating the level of contamination and potential ecological risks in the riverine system. 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