Higher Concentration of Heavy Metals in Surface Water and Fish near a Municipal Solid Waste Dump in Guwahati, Assam, India

Solid waste management is one of the biggest environmental challenges in cities and towns across India. Precipitation infiltrating the solid wastes disposed on land mixes with the liquids trapped in the crevices of the waste and leach compounds from solid waste. Discharge of potentially toxic heavy metals from the leachate into aquatic ecosystems poses serious threat because of their toxicity, persistence, bioaccumulation and biomagnification in the food chain.