Seasonal and spatial impact of heavy metal contamination in the Yamuna riverine ecosystem at Delhi, India: a multi-matrix study

Seasonal and spatial impact of heavy metal contamination in the Yamuna riverine ecosystem at Delhi, India: a multi-matrix study | 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 Seasonal and spatial impact of heavy metal contamination in the Yamuna riverine ecosystem at Delhi, India: a multi-matrix study Rupin Kumar, Jyoti Yadav, Parimal Khan, Sandhya Rai, Pankaj Kumar, and 2 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8312942/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 4 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract The ecological impact of metal contamination in the Yamuna riverine ecosystem has remained understudied. This multi-matrix investigation of cadmium, zinc, chromium, copper, lead, and iron contamination at six key sites along the river Yamuna, Delhi, in the winter, early-monsoon, and late-monsoon seasons (2022–2023). Results revealed strong seasonal variations in heavy metal levels, peaking during winter and declining in early monsoon. Various indices (heavy metal pollution index, contamination factor, and pollution load index) identified Batla House, Burari, and Kashmiri Gate as major contamination hotspots. The study highlighted the transfer of toxic metals from river water and soil into locally grown vegetables. The metal concentrations in the river water, soil, and vegetables were in the order of Fe > Zn > Cr > Ni > Cu > Pb > Cd, Fe > Zn > Cr > Cu > Ni > Pb > Cd, and Fe > Cr > Zn > Cd > Ni > Pb > Cu, respectively. In vegetables, Spinacia oleracea and Raphanus sativus exhibited the highest and lowest levels of contamination, respectively. Further, higher and lower levels of contamination were recorded during the 2nd and the 3rd sampling periods, respectively. Cd and Pb were high in all vegetables, while Zn, Cu, and Ni were below their permissible limits. This integrated assessment is among the first to connect heavy metal flux in the river at Delhi with contamination in adjacent soil and cultivated vegetables, posing significant public health risks and offering valuable insights for risk evaluation. Contamination factor Heavy metals Pollution index Pollution load index Transfer Factor Vegetales Full Text Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Reviewers agreed at journal 23 Dec, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 23 Dec, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 17 Dec, 2025 First submitted to journal 14 Dec, 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-8312942","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":564667174,"identity":"1bf1e195-2f6a-4797-b45d-3ec0a2d9dd6b","order_by":0,"name":"Rupin Kumar","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Delhi - North Campus: University of Delhi","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Rupin","middleName":"","lastName":"Kumar","suffix":""},{"id":564667175,"identity":"869f971c-fb73-4036-b655-7caf954846ba","order_by":1,"name":"Jyoti Yadav","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Delhi - North Campus: 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study","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"international-journal-of-environmental-research","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"IJER","sideBox":"Learn more about [International Journal of Environmental Research](https://www.springer.com/journal/41742)","snPcode":"41742","submissionUrl":"https://www.editorialmanager.com/ijer/default2.asp...\n","title":"International Journal of Environmental Research","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Hybrid","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"Contamination factor, Heavy metals, Pollution index, Pollution load index, Transfer Factor, Vegetales","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8312942/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8312942/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eThe ecological impact of metal contamination in the Yamuna riverine ecosystem has remained understudied. This multi-matrix investigation of cadmium, zinc, chromium, copper, lead, and iron contamination at six key sites along the river Yamuna, Delhi, in the winter, early-monsoon, and late-monsoon seasons (2022\u0026ndash;2023). Results revealed strong seasonal variations in heavy metal levels, peaking during winter and declining in early monsoon. Various indices (heavy metal pollution index, contamination factor, and pollution load index) identified Batla House, Burari, and Kashmiri Gate as major contamination hotspots. The study highlighted the transfer of toxic metals from river water and soil into locally grown vegetables. The metal concentrations in the river water, soil, and vegetables were in the order of Fe\u0026thinsp;\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;Zn\u0026thinsp;\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;Cr\u0026thinsp;\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;Ni\u0026thinsp;\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;Cu\u0026thinsp;\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;Pb\u0026thinsp;\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;Cd, Fe\u0026thinsp;\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;Zn\u0026thinsp;\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;Cr\u0026thinsp;\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;Cu\u0026thinsp;\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;Ni\u0026thinsp;\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;Pb\u0026thinsp;\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;Cd, and Fe\u0026thinsp;\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;Cr\u0026thinsp;\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;Zn\u0026thinsp;\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;Cd\u0026thinsp;\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;Ni\u0026thinsp;\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;Pb\u0026thinsp;\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;Cu, respectively. In vegetables, \u003cem\u003eSpinacia oleracea\u003c/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eRaphanus sativus\u003c/em\u003e exhibited the highest and lowest levels of contamination, respectively. Further, higher and lower levels of contamination were recorded during the 2nd and the 3rd sampling periods, respectively. Cd and Pb were high in all vegetables, while Zn, Cu, and Ni were below their permissible limits. This integrated assessment is among the first to connect heavy metal flux in the river at Delhi with contamination in adjacent soil and cultivated vegetables, posing significant public health risks and offering valuable insights for risk evaluation.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Seasonal and spatial impact of heavy metal contamination in the Yamuna riverine ecosystem at Delhi, India: a multi-matrix study","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-12-25 09:27:11","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8312942/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"","date":"2025-12-24T02:18:52+00:00","index":0,"fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2025-12-23T11:59:23+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2025-12-17T19:36:20+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"International Journal of Environmental Research","date":"2025-12-15T00:16:02+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"international-journal-of-environmental-research","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"IJER","sideBox":"Learn more about [International Journal of Environmental Research](https://www.springer.com/journal/41742)","snPcode":"41742","submissionUrl":"https://www.editorialmanager.com/ijer/default2.asp...\n","title":"International Journal of Environmental Research","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Hybrid","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"080360a4-4e9b-4c8d-b59a-f41d09b188da","owner":[],"postedDate":"December 25th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"under-review","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2025-12-25T09:27:11+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-12-25 09:27:11","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-8312942","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-8312942","identity":"rs-8312942","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}