Environmental Impact of a Tanning Industrial Cluster on...

Abstract—Tanneries use a large number of chemicals during the

process of leather making, such as chromium sulphate, sodium

chloride, and calcium hydroxide. The salts present in the effluent

seep into the ground surface and thereby cause the pollution of

ground water sources in the area. Chromate poisoning causes severe

skin disorders such as allergic dermatitis and liver and kidney

damage and there is considerable evidence that chromium is

carcinogenic. In view of this, it is of paramount importance to look

for and to evaluate the chromium levels in the drinking waters of the

area and assess their status of potability in the light of the criteria

laid by Bureau of Indian Standards (B.I.S). Thirty groundwater

samples were identified for sampling and chromium analysis, from

the area covering about 1.4 Square km, in and around a tannery

cluster. The analysis reveals that 53.33% of the samples are

non-potable due to the presence of excess chromium and the results

show that there is a definite correlation between the ill health faced

by the residents of the area and ground water contamination.

Keywords—Contamination, chromium, groundwater,

pollution, tanneries.

I. INTRODUCTION

HE Tanning industry is one of the oldest industries in

India. In the recent years, the concentrated growth of this

industry in certain localities has shown how the waste from

this industry can cause irreversible damage to the water

environment in the vicinity [1]. It is estimated that 30-35

litres of water is used per Kilogram of leather processed,

generating about 680 million litres of effluent daily. In India

alone about 2000–3000 tons of chromium escapes into the

environment annually from tanning industries. Most of the

tanneries present here are located in the outskirts of several

major cities such as Delhi, Kanpur, Mumbai, Calcutta,

Chennai etc. Ref [3] indicated that groundwater in Dindigul

area of Tamil Nadu, India is heavily polluted due to the

disposal of treated effluent from the tanneries into open

drains that do not comply with the disposal standards. The

effluents from the tanning processes are sent to the common

effluent treatment plant (CETP) by large scale industries

after the formulation of stringent laws in 1991. Although

CETP helps to some extent for the treatment of effluent, it is

still not fit for re-use due to high concentration of many ions.

In addition, there is also huge quantity of solid waste

generated as sludge from water treatment. Since the solid

waste rich in chemicals is improperly disposed of, the

resulting leachate finds its way into the groundwater during

rainfall recharge [4]. This problem persists especially in

developing and under developed countries where proper

B. S. Shankar is with the Civil Engineering Department, Alliance

University, Anekal, Bangalore, Karnataka, 562106, INDIA. Phone:

+91-8792531778 e-mail: shanky5525@ gmail.com

treatment of waste is not carried out. Impact on the

environment by the tanning industries has been reported in

several countries [5] - [9]. Leather is manufactured in a

number of steps involving about 170 types of chemicals,

which include several chemicals like chromium sulphate,

sodium chloride, and calcium hydroxide. Therefore, the

resultant effluent is enriched with chromium and salts. All

tanneries need a large amount of water for processing leather

and depend on nearby ground/surface water sources for their

daily requirements. The discharged effluents from the

processing unit are either discharged into the nearby river or

stored in large lagoons and pollution occurs as the dissolved

salts percolate into the surrounding soil [10]. Indiscriminate

disposal of chemicals rich tannery effluent has resulted in

extensive degradation of productive land, surface and

groundwater. The industrial effluent standards are stringent

as compared to disposal on land for irrigation. Therefore,

industries prefer to discharge their effluents on land.

Continuous irrigation using even treated effluents may lead

to groundwater and soil degradation through accumulation

of pollutants. Apart from disposal of industrial effluents on

land and other surface water bodies, untreated/improperly

treated effluents are also injected into the groundwater

through ditches and wells in some locations in India to avoid

pollution abatement costs. As a result, groundwater resources

of surrounding areas become unsuitable for drinking and

agricultural purposes. Continuous application of polluted

groundwaters for irrigation can also increase the soil salinity

and alkalinity problems in farmlands.

A. Genesis of Chromium and Effects on human health

Chromium is absorbed through both the gastrointestinal

and respiratory tracts [11]. Chromium enters environmental

waters from anthropogenic sources such as electroplating

factories, leather tanneries and textile manufacturing

facilities. Chromium also enters groundwater by leaching

from soil.

B. Toxicological effects of chromium

The harmful effects of chromium in mass are associated

with hexavalent chromium. In high doses, chromium cause

digestive tract cancer in humans and there is evidence that

there is an increased risk of lung cancer to workers who are

exposed to high levels of chromium. Chromate poisoning

causes severe skin disorders such as allergic dermatitis and

liver and kidney damage. Chromium VI is a human

carcinogen, as determined by the International Agency for

Research on Cancer (IARC), the U.S. Environmental

Protection Agency (U.S. EPA), and The Office of

Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, OEHHA [12].

Environmental Impact of a Tanning Industrial Cluster

on Groundwater Quality of Bangalore, India, with

Special reference to Chromium

B. S. Shankar

T

4th International Conference on Chemical, Ecology and Environmental Sciences (ICEES'2015) Dec. 15-16, 2015 Pattaya (Thailand)

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C. Toxicological effects of chromium on human

All reports of humans acutely poisoned by chromium

compounds have involved compounds of chromium VI [13].

A 14-year old boy died in the hospital eight days after

ingesting 7.5 mg CrVI/kg as potassium dichromate. Death

resulted from gastrointestinal ulceration and severe damage

to the liver and kidneys [14]. Other reports of humans dying

from ingestion of chromium VI involved large amounts of

the chemical [15].Effects on the cardiovascular, respiratory,

gastrointestinal, hematological, hepatic and renal systems

are observed in humans who die after ingestion of large

amounts of chromium VI.

A village in the People‘s Republic of China had a drinking

water well contaminated from a nearby alloy plant with 20

mg CrVI/L. A cross sectional study of people living in this

village revealed that they suffered from leukocytosis and

immature neutrophils .Cross sectional epidemiological

studies have been conducted on villagers in China who

consumed water from wells contaminated with chromium VI

[16]. Drinking water from one of these wells contained 20

mg chromium VI/L. The villagers who drank this water

experienced oral ulcer, diarrhea, abdominal pain, indigestion

and vomiting.

In a mortality study regarding groundwater contamination

with hexavalent chromium (Cr+6) in the JinZhou area of

China between 1965 and 1978, a significant excess of overall

cancer mortality was observed in five Cr (+6)-contaminated

villages combined. adjacent to the source of the

contamination, where 57% of the wells exceeded the

European Community safe drinking water standard of 0.05

ppm [17].

A Recent analysis has revealed that 38% of municipal

sources of drinking water in California have detectable levels

of hexavalent chromium [18]. This observation provided new

impetus to characterize the carcinogenic risk associated with

oral exposure to hexavalent chromium in drinking water.

In the present study, discussions held by the authors with the

Health Centre authorities revealed that, between January and

November 2014, 12 residents were treated for dermatitis, 6

for indigestion and vomiting and 5 cases of septum

perforation were identified in the tannery industrial area

(study area), using the chromium contaminated water. It is in

this regard, that the present study assumes great importance.

D. Details of Bangalore City

Bangalore city, the state capital of Karnataka, is situated

in the southernmost part of India and lies between North

Latitude 12052' 21‖ to 1306'0‖ and East Longitude 7700'45‖ to

77032'25‖, covering an area of approximately 400 square km.

The study area is covered in part of the Survey of India

Toposheet Number 57 G/12.

E. Background of Tanneries

The tannery area is located in the North-east part of

Bangalore city and is encompassed by a cluster of leather

industries. According to reports, sixteen industries were

functioning some two decades back. Recently, the

Government regulations and requirements to meet the

International standards for exporting the leather has made a

severe impact on the production and sales of leather and its

goods, both in India and abroad. As a result, presently only

five such leather industries are working with fulltime

operations [19]. Previously, these industries did not have

effluent treatment units and used to discharge the effluents

on open land directly. From the past few years, these

industries have formed an association to have a Common

Effluent Treatment Plant (CETP) and the same has been

established and is now working. All these industries have

collectively formed an underground drainage system for

conveying their industrial effluents to the CETP, which

operates fulltime. But a lot of damage has already been done

to the groundwaters in the area and the present arrangement

has revived the situation only partially.

F. Details of the study area

The study area in and around the tannery industrial area

measures about 1.4 Sq km, covering quite a few important

localities of the city such as Kadugondanahalli,

Devarajeevana halli, Lingarajapuram, Shampura and

Kammanahalli. Though there are some of the better settled

establishments in the area, most of the population is living in

unhygienic conditions in slums and the industrial cluster is

located very near to the residential area. The site top soil is

loamy and the groundwater table is more than 35m below

ground level. The soil has moderate permeability. Most of the

open wells in the area are dry. Though some of the localities

are covered by the BWSSB (Bangalore Water Supply and

Sewerage Board) supplies, a large majority of the population

are dependent on private suppliers for their drinking water

supplies at heavy cost [19].

II. MATERIALS AND METHODS OF ANALYSIS

Thirty water samples were collected from the borewells

and open wells in and around the in industrial cluster,

covering 1.4 Square km area and located very near to the

residential area during both pre-monsoon (April 2014) and

post-monsoon (November 2014) periods. The samples were

taken from the area covering the entire residential populace

using this water and were analyzed for chromium in the lab

using an U-V-visible spectrophotometer in accordance with

the Standard methods for examination of water and

wastewater of American Public Health Association (APHA,

2002) [20]. The results obtained were evaluated in

accordance with the standards prescribed under ‗Indian

Standard Drinking Water Specification‘ (BIS 10500: 2003)

of Bureau of Indian Standards [21]. The location map of the

study area along with the sampling stations is presented in

Fig. 1.


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Fig. 1 Location map of Tannery area with sampling stations

III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

Thirty groundwater samples were drawn from the

borewells which included hand pumps, piped water supplies

and mini water supply schemes in the months of April and

November 2014 and the water samples were analyzed for

chromium. The analysis results are presented in Table I. Out

of the thirty samples analyzed for chromium, 16 (53.33%)

were found to be non- potable as per Bureau of Indian

Standards. The maximum concentrations of chromium are


57

found to be 1.48mg/l and 1.41mg/l in post-monsoon and

pre-monsoon seasons while the average concentrations are

found to be 0.182 and 0.173 respectively (Table II). No

appreciable differences in values are observed in the two

seasons, though post-monsoon values are marginally higher.

Chromium in several samples is alarmingly high, when

compared to BIS permissible limit of 0.05mg/l. A high

percentage (sixteen instances) of contamination due to

chromium was observed, with a peak concentration of

1.48mg/l in post-monsoon, as against BIS permissible limit

of 0.05mg/l.

Chromium is one of the main pollutants from tanning

operations. This may be the main reason for chromium

contamination of groundwater in the study area, along with

the anthropogenic activities, domestic sewage and

wastewater run-off, which help in the percolation of

chromium along with the percolating water and finally

reaching the groundwater.

Discussions held by the authors with the Local Primary

Health Centre authorities revealed that the excessive

concentrations of chromium leading to severe skin problems

such as dermatitis is evidenced by several residents in the

area supporting a clear co-relation between the health

disorders faced by the people and groundwater pollution due

to excess chromium[22]. TABLE I

RESULTS OF CHROMIUM ANALYSIS IN GROUNDWATER SAMPLES

APRIL NOVEMBER

Sample

number

Type of source Cr,

mg/l

Cr,

mg/l

1 HP 0.14 0.14

2 PWS 0.30 0.32

3 HP nil 0.004

4 MWS 1.41 1.48

5 HP Nil Nil

6 HP 0.82 0.86

7 HP 0.74 0.64

8 MWS 0.12 0.14

9 HP 0.26 0.26

10 MWS 0.1 0.1

11 OW 0.1 0.12

12 HP 0.22 0.19

13 HP 0.29 0.37

14 PWS 0.08 0.14

15 PWS 0.12 0.18

16 HP 0.18 0.28

17 HP 0.1 0.08

18 PWS 0.11 0.24

19 HP 0.01 0.01

20 PWS 0.03 Nil

21 HP nil Nil

22 PWS nil Nil

23 PWS nil 0.02

24 HP 0.04 Nil

25 PWS nil Nil

26 PWS 0.005 Nil

27 HP nil Nil

28 HP nil Nil

29 MWS nil Nil

30 HP 0.04 0.06

HP: Hand pump, PWS: Piped water supply, MWS: Mini water supply

scheme, OW: Open Well

TABLE II

MAXIMUM, MINIMUM AND AVERAGE CONCENTRATIONS OF CHROMIUM

Maximum Minimum Average

Pre

monsoon

Post

monsoon

Pre

monsoon

Post

monsoon

Pre

monsoon

Post

monsoon

1.41

mg/l

1.48

mg/l

nil

nil

0.173 mg/l

0.182 mg/l

Chromium Reduction techniques

Several Chromium removal techniques could be adapted,

such as reduction, ion exchange, evaporation, electro

dialysis, reverse osmosis and adsorption. Most of the above

methods involve high capital investment, though adsorption

technique through the use of activated carbon is quite

economical and may be used with considerable removal

efficiency.

IV. CONCLUSION

The analysis of groundwater samples from the industrial

area for chromium has shown that nearly 54% of the samples

are contaminated and unfit for domestic use and that the

groundwater is getting contaminated alarmingly. The

investigations along with the discussions held with the health

centre officials and general public of the area, clearly point

out to the serious chromium contamination of the

groundwater in the vicinity of the tanneries cluster and the

ill-health faced by the residents.

The less stringent effluent discharge standards for land

application are a direct threat to the soil and water quality.

Hence there is an urgent need for regulation of water quality

for land application. Adopting cleaner technologies, such as

organic tanning agents and going for engineered landfill for

solid waste disposal to prevent infiltration of leachate can

reduce the pollution. Setting up of a local area environmental

monitoring committee could go a long way in abating the

problem.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

The Author is extremely grateful to the Chancellor,

Dr.Madhukar Angur, Alliance University and Professor

Sudhindra, Director, ACED, for the whole-hearted support

and encouragement provided by them during the course of

the work.

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Shankar B.S is a professor and Head of Civil Engineering

Department at Alliance University, Bangalore,

Karnataka, India. He obtained his B.E and M.E degrees

from Bangalore University in 1987 and 1990

respectively, and a Ph.D degree from Dr. MGR

University and Research Institute, Chennai in 2009. His

research area is groundwater contamination and

monitoring.

He started his career as a Lecturer in Civil Engineering at MVJ College of

Engineering in 1993, where he worked for 14 years. His next six years were as

Assistant Professor and Professor and Head of Civil Engineering Department at

East Point College of Engineering, Bangalore , before he moved on to CMR

Institute of Technology as Professor and Head of Civil Engineering Department

for two years. He is now working as Professor and Head of Civil Engineering

Department at Alliance University, Bangalore, Karnataka, India, since 2014.

He is associated with research projects on groundwater monitoring in Bangalore

and low cast adsorbents for heavy metal removal from water. He is a research

advisor/Guide for the research scholars pursuing their Ph.D. He has published

widely in prestigious peer reviewed International and National Journals such as

Environmental Monitoring and assessment, Journal of Environmental

Engineering Science , Journal of Engineering and Technology Research,

Environment and Ecology to name a few. He has a total of 65 publications,

comprising of 32 National and International Journals and 33 National and

International conference publications to his credit.

Dr Shankar B.S is an editorial board member for International Academic

Journals and reviewer for several International Journals such as IJEWM, IJAR,

IJPS, EES, and BJAST. He is the recipient of Excellence in Research, Science &

Technology (EET CRS) award, June 2014.


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