Dear Friends,
We are happy to bring to you the daily issue of our e-newsletter "Prayavaran Times".
This is an electronic documentation of news and features  on various environment and wildlife issues, appearing in English news dailies in India.
It is an attempt to compile and reiterate the important conservation concerns of our society.  
It caters to wide network of CMSVATAVARAN which includes environmentalists, wildlife enthusiasts and experts, conservationists, activists, researchers, media professionals, filmmakers and NGOs/ scientific organisations .
Please feel free to share this further in your respective networks and also any further suggestions to improve this service. 

 Sincerely
Preeti Kashyap
preeti@cmsindia.org


 

Thursday, May 20, 2021
Pharmaceuticals, beauty products add to pollution in Bengaluru’s water bodies: Study
Correspondent :
Bengaluru: A new research paper that studies the impact of pharmaceutical and personal care products released into Bengaluru’s water bodies states that the risk of side effects to aquatic life and humans, who consume it indirectly, are increasing.

The study, conducted between the monsoon period in October 2018 and pre-monsoon period in February 2019, across Arkavathi River in Bengaluru establishes high level of harmful content entering surface water streams.

“ In the last few decades pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) have been responsible for water pollution with adverse effects on the aquatic biota because of

their pseudo-persistence and bioaccumulation. Though detected at low concentrations in natural waters, they have the potential to cause harm to the ecological and human health especially in diverse trophic levels of aquatic ecosystems,” according to the research paper.

PPCPs include diverse classes like parabens, antibiotics, UV-filters, plasticizers, antibacterial and analgesics.

With a population of over 12 million, Bengaluru is among the most populous cities in the country. Its technology boom in the early 2000’s has attracted migrant workers--both white and blue--from across the country and the world which has led to rapid and unplanned expansion of the city. During this period, Bengaluru has witnessed an exponential increase in construction to accommodate the large migrant population, leading to rapid erosion of natural water bodies like lakes, green cover and its unplanned growth has also led to inefficient garbage and wastewater treatment.

“There is disposal of such products directly Arkavathi and Vrishabhavathi, even though it does not join surface water, sedimentations and soil is likely to be impacted. Before wastewater is released, it should be treated first,” Gopal Chikmagalur Malappa, the lead author of the paper, told Hindustan Times.

Arkavathi is a tributary of Cauvery River and flows for a length of 193 kms and the basin area is around 4253 square kilometers, according to the study.

The rapid encroachment of lakes in Bengaluru, which at one point exceeded 250 in numbers, has left the city to quench its thirst by dipping into the Cauvery river that flows at least 100 kms away, depriving other districts of this precious resource and deflecting it to India’s IT capital.

“The spatial abundance of PPCPs at the river’s midstream confirms the continuous discharge of wastewater from highly populated metropolitan and industrial areas through Byramangala reservoir into the river stream. Temporally, in the post-monsoon season, sulfamethoxazole, chloramphenicol, and diclofenac increased on account of undiluted sewage and their polar nature preventing its absorption into sediments. On the other hand there was a decrease in the concentrations of propylparaben, ibuprofen, BP1, oxybenzone, BPA and triclosan, in the post-monsoon, due to its hydrophobic nature and tendency to precipitate with the particulates/ sediments/ soil,” the paper states.

According to the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB), over 708 kilometers of seven major rivers and its tributaries have levels of contamination ranging from Class ‘B’ or waters used for organised outdoor bathing all the way to “D” or waters to maintain aquatic life. Of the 98 water quality monitoring stations, at least 42 have reported serious, if not dangerous, levels of pollution, data shows.

Water contamination is not unique to Karnataka as similar studies across the country have revealed alarming results of pollution in some of India’s biggest rivers including the Ganga.

Untreated water, industrial effluent and other polluting elements are often let into these water bodies, which increases the presence of harmful pollutants and seeps into groundwater, food crops, animals and even humans when they consume the same.

Bengaluru requires around 1400 million litres per day to quench its thirst and wastewater recycling infrastructure has a capacity of around half of that, and actual recycled water is around 500 mld (million litres per day), according to official data.

A large portion of used water, including those with soaps, detergents and other cleaning products is let out in drains that in turn makes its way into other water bodies like rivers and lakes. Discharge of pharmaceuticals happens through humans.

The anti-inflammatory drug ibuprofen was determined at comparatively (p = 0.083) higher concentrations (1835 ng/L) compared to other target PPCPs, according to the study, which further adds that this could be due to the large volume of consumption as it is easily available over the counter.

A report by the KSPCB in 2020 states that none of the water in any of the lakes in Bengaluru are fit for drinking even though fish from these lakes are often consumed by locals.

Bellandur lake, located in the eastern part of Bengaluru has made global headlines for its toxic content and foam that often catches fire largely due to the sewage, metal and other harmful contents within the lake.

Though the release of PPCPs are not at alarming levels, the continuous consumption of these products--directly and indirectly--may lead to developing side-effects, the paper states.

“How good the treatment in these (wastewater) plants is important. Because these pharmaceuticals are not very easy to treat. Conventional treatment will not work,” K Balakrishna, the co-author of the paper and faculty member of the department of Geology at Manipal Institute of Technology said.

 
SOURCE : https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/pharmaceuticals-beauty-products-add-to-pollution-in-bengaluru-s-water-bodies-study-101621453356007.html
Back to pevious page

 

 

 

Note:-Since India has no anti-spamming law, we follow the US directive passed in Bill.1618 Title III by the 105th US Congress, which states that mail cannot be considered spam if it contains contact information, which this mail does. If you want to be removed from the mailing list click on UNSUBSCRIBE