Effects of COVID-19 era on a subtropical river basin in Bangladesh: Heavy metal(loid)s distribution, sources and probable human health risks.

ABSTRACT: The COVID-19 era has profoundly affected everyday human life, the environment, and freshwater ecosystems worldwide. Despite the numerous influences, a strict COVID-19 lockdown might improve the surface water quality and thus provide an unprecedented opportunity to restore the degraded freshwater resource. Therefore, we intend to investigate the spatiotemporal water quality, sources, and preliminary health risks of heavy metal(loid)s in the Karatoya River basin (KRB), a tropical urban river in Bangladesh. Seventy water samples were collected from 35 stations in KRB in 2019 and 2022 during the dry season. The results showed that the concentrations of Ni, Cu, Zn, Pb, Cd, and Cr were significantly reduced by 89.3-99.7 % during the post-lockdown period (p < 0.05). However, pH, Fe, Mn, and As co

SUBMITTER: Jawad-Ul-Haque 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9551124 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature