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VOL. 10, ISSUE 3 (2026)
Assessment of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in Ganga River at Varanasi city: Occurrence, characterization and remediation
Authors
Dinanath Tripathi, Akriti Vigya, Kashinath Tripathi, Vivek Singh, Abhishek Singh
Abstract
The River Ganga, which sustains over
40% of India's population across its basin, is increasingly burdened by
persistent organic pollutants (POPs) organochlorine pesticides (OCPs), polychlorinated
biphenyls (PCBs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and a widening
range of emerging organic contaminants (EOCs) including pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals
and lifestyle compounds that resist degradation, bio-accumulate through
the food chain and pose chronic ecological and human-health risks. This paper
synthesizes current knowledge on the characterization and spatial distribution
of POPs along the Ganga, with particular attention to the middle
Gangetic stretch through Prayagraj, Varanasi and downstream reaches, drawing
on recent validated analytical surveys and basin-scale monitoring studies. We
review the principal point and non-point sources (untreated municipal sewage,
tannery and textile effluent, agricultural run-off, and Gross
Polluting Industries), the dominant compound classes reported in water
and sediment, and the physicochemical and hydrological controls dilution
by low-POP tributaries, sorption to suspended sediment, and
seasonal flow variation that govern their downstream fate. We then critically
evaluate current and prospective control measures, spanning conventional
sewage treatment infrastructure under the Namami Gange programme, source-directed
industrial effluent regulation, and emerging bio- and phyto-remediation
technologies, and propose an integrated, tiered
monitoring-and-mitigation framework combining suspect-screening analytical
chemistry, catchment-scale source apportionment, and
decentralised treatment technologies appropriate for the Ganga's data and
infrastructure context. We conclude that meaningful reduction of the POP burden
in the Ganga requires coupling analytical surveillance with source-control
regulation and low-cost, scalable remediation suited to the basins dense
and heterogeneous pollution loading.
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Pages:21-23
How to cite this article:
Dinanath Tripathi, Akriti Vigya, Kashinath Tripathi, Vivek Singh, Abhishek Singh "Assessment of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in Ganga River at Varanasi city: Occurrence,<i> </i>characterization and remediation". International Journal of Chemistry Studies, Vol 10, Issue 3, 2026, Pages 21-23
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