title: Impairment of soil health due to fly ash-fugitive dust deposition from coal-fired thermal power plants.
abstract: Thermal power stations apart from being source of energy supply are causing soil pollution leading to its degradation in fertility and contamination. Fine particle and trace element emissions from energy production in coal-fired thermal power plants are associated with significant adverse effects on human, animal, and soil health. Contamination of soil with cadmium, nickel, copper, lead, arsenic, chromium, and zinc can be a primary route of human exposure to these potentially toxic elements. The environmental evaluation of surrounding soil of thermal power plants in Odisha may serve a model study to get the insight into hazards they are causing. The study investigates the impact of fly ash-fugitive dust (FAFD) deposition from coal-fired thermal power plant emissions on soil properties including trace element concentration, pH, and soil enzymatic activities. Higher FAFD deposition was found in the close proximity of power plants, which led to high pH and greater accumulation of heavy metals. Among the three power plants, in the vicinity of NALCO, higher concentrations of soil organic carbon and nitrogen was observed whereas, higher phosphorus content was recorded in the proximity of NTPC. Multivariate statistical analysis of different variables and their association indicated that FAFD deposition and soil properties were influenced by the source of emissions and distance from source of emission. Pollution in soil profiles and high risk areas were detected and visualized using surface maps based on Kriging interpolation. The concentrations of chromium and arsenic were higher in the soil where FAFD deposition was more. Observance of relatively high concentration of heavy metals like cadmium, lead, nickel, and arsenic and a low concentration of enzymatic activity in proximity to the emission source indicated a possible link with anthropogenic emissions.
authors.affiliation: Division of Crop Production, Central Rice Research Institute, Cuttack, Odisha, 753 006, India. rajatnau@gmail.com.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Raja
authors.affiliation: Division of Crop Production, Central Rice Research Institute, Cuttack, Odisha, 753 006, India.
authors.forename: A K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Nayak
authors.affiliation: Indian Institute of Soil Science, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, 462038, India.
authors.forename: A K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Shukla
authors.affiliation: Division of Crop Production, Central Rice Research Institute, Cuttack, Odisha, 753 006, India.
authors.forename: K S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Rao
authors.affiliation: Division of Crop Production, Central Rice Research Institute, Cuttack, Odisha, 753 006, India.
authors.forename: Priyanka
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gautam
authors.affiliation: Division of Crop Production, Central Rice Research Institute, Cuttack, Odisha, 753 006, India.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lal
authors.affiliation: Division of Crop Production, Central Rice Research Institute, Cuttack, Odisha, 753 006, India.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Tripathi
authors.affiliation: Division of Crop Production, Central Rice Research Institute, Cuttack, Odisha, 753 006, India.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shahid
authors.affiliation: Division of Crop Production, Central Rice Research Institute, Cuttack, Odisha, 753 006, India.
authors.forename: B B
authors.initials: BB
authors.lastname: Panda
authors.affiliation: Division of Crop Production, Central Rice Research Institute, Cuttack, Odisha, 753 006, India.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.affiliation: Division of Crop Production, Central Rice Research Institute, Cuttack, Odisha, 753 006, India.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bhattacharyya
authors.affiliation: Division of Crop Production, Central Rice Research Institute, Cuttack, Odisha, 753 006, India.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bardhan
authors.affiliation: Division of Crop Production, Central Rice Research Institute, Cuttack, Odisha, 753 006, India.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.affiliation: Division of Crop Production, Central Rice Research Institute, Cuttack, Odisha, 753 006, India.
authors.forename: D K
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Patra
mesh_terms: D003031:Coal / Q000032:analysis; D060729:Coal Ash / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry; D004391:Dust / Q000032:analysis; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D004787:Environmental Pollution / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D019216:Metals, Heavy / Q000032:analysis*; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011210:Power Plants; D012987:Soil / Q000737:chemistry*; D012989:Soil Pollutants / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D003031:Coal; D060729:Coal Ash; D004391:Dust; D019216:Metals, Heavy; D012987:Soil; D012989:Soil Pollutants
keywords: Fly ash; Fugitive dust; Heavy metals; Kriging; Soil enzymes