Open AccessA Laboratory Approach for Determining Effects of Potential Oil Spillage on Water Quality of Sundarbans Mangrove Forest, Bangladesh
Author(s) -
Hosne Ara,
Hafizur Rahaman,
Md Jahidul Islam,
Ashis Mallick,
Md. Sazzad Hossain
Publication year - 1970
Publication title -
journal of life and earth science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2408-8641
pISSN - 1990-4827
DOI - 10.3329/jles.v3i0.7441
Subject(s) - mangrove , spillage , alkalinity , water quality , microcosm , environmental chemistry , environmental science , sulfate , total dissolved solids , chemistry , pulp and paper industry , environmental engineering , ecology , biology , organic chemistry , engineering
This study was conducted in laboratory as a microcosm approach in order to know the effect of oil (diesel) spillage on water quality of Sundarbans Mangrove Forest (SMF), Bangladesh. A series of laboratory tanks were filled with water of SMF with different concentrations of oils dispersed onto the waters. The water quality parameters viz. alkalinity, free CO2, dissolved oxygen, chemical oxygen demand, hardness, major anions (sulfate and chloride) and major cations (Na+, K+, Ca+2 and Mg+2) were determined three times at nearly weekly intervals. Results indicate the degradation of oil followed by reduction of dissolved oxygen and evolution of free CO2, coupled with depletion of the concentration of Ca2+ and Mg2+ in tank waters. This might be due the complex formation of Ca2+ and Mg2+ with hydrocarbons which were insoluble in water. The water quality parameters of different laboratory tanks were also compared with those of different locations of SMF determined before the microcosm approach, suggesting that oil spillage deteriorates the water quality of SMF. Key words: Water quality; simulation; oil spillage; Sundarbans Mangrove Forest (SRF) DOI: 10.3329/jles.v3i0.7441 J. Life Earth Sci., Vols. 3-4: 23-28, 2009