摘要：Heavy metals are widely distributed in the earth’s crust, atmosphere, seawater andfreshwaters as a result of soil erosion, release of industrial effluents and agriculturalpractices, etc. Industrial effluents may be considered as one of the major sources ofheavy metal pollution. The contamination of groundwater and soil has received greatsignificance during recent years due to the toxicity and accumulation behaviour, whichmay have an adverse effect on ecosystems and human health. Present study involvesanalysis of heavy metals and other physicochemical parameters like pH, EC, colourand COD in effluent discharged from Loco and Carriage Workshops, Ajmer. Effluentsamples were collected monthly in the year 2007. The study indicates slightly acidicnature of the effluent. Colour of all the effluent samples was black. Oil and grease andCOD in all the samples were found higher than the prescribed limits of WHO. Cu andZn content of all the samples were within the prescribed limits, whereas Cd, Fe and Pbwere higher than the prescribed limits.
