Ecological and human health risk from exposure to metal contaminated sediments in a subtropical river affected by anthropogenic activities: A case study from river Yamuna.

Heavy metal enrichment in river sediments poses a significant risk to human and aquatic health. The Yamuna River faces severe challenges due to untreated industrial and domestic wastewater discharge. The study evaluates sediment metal content, ecological and human health risks, and potential sources. Results showed Cd and Pb exhibited moderate to severe contamination and displayed ecological risk based on contamination factor, enrichment factor, and potential ecological risk. According to synergistic indices (pollution load index, PINemerow, toxic risk index, contamination security index, mean probable effects level quotients, and probability of toxicity), the sediment in the Yamuna River doesn't seem to have a risk or enrichment from combined metals. Cd and Pb mainly originate from anthropogenic sources. Hazard index (< 1) and carcinogenic risk (2.2 × 10-7 to 4.7 × 10-5) assessments suggest metal didn't pose any risk to humans exposed to sediment. The present study aids in developing pollution control strategies for the Yamuna River.

Fishery, growth, mortality, and stock assessment of endangered Tor putitora from Tehri dam reservoir, Uttarakhand, Himalayan foothills of India in relation to environmental variables.

The current study determined Tor putitora (Hamilton, 1822) fishery, growth, mortality, and population characteristics using length-frequency data assembled monthly from the Tehri dam reservoir in Uttarakhand from January to December 2022. The estimation data was separated into 40-mm class intervals, and population parameters were investigated and computed using the FiSAT-II software tool. W = 0.0101 L2.996, where a = 0.0101 and b = 2.99, were determined as the length-weight relationships, and the growth performance index (ϕ) was computed to be 5.40. Tor putitora commercial catches in the Tehri dam reservoir were dominated by length groups of 360-399 and 320-359 mm. Different growth parameters were estimated using length-frequency data as L∞ = 987.00 mm, K = 0.26 yr-1, and t0 = -0.0003 years. Z, M, and F mortality coefficients were estimated to be 1.01, 0.27, and 0.73, respectively. At the end of the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh years, the fish measured 226, 400, 535, 638, 718, and 780, and 827, respectively. The estimated value of the exploitation rate (E) was 0.73 using the length-converted catch curve approach, which was determined to be somewhat higher than the optimum value (0.50). Tor putitora recruitment patterns from the Tehri dam reservoir reveal that the species only has one recruitment pattern every year, and that solely occurs from June to September. The current exploitation level (0.73) has already exceeded the maximum fishing pressure (Emax = 0.508), indicating that there is a decline in the catch at the current fishing pressure, and a further increase in fishing efforts may lead to a decline in the stock, which may be detrimental to the sustainable fishery of Tor putitora in the Tehri dam reservoir, Uttarakhand, India.