**Author details**

**Grade Exchangeable and bounded to carbonate metal (%) Risk** I <1 No risk II 1 – 10 Low risk III 11 – 30 Medium risk IV 31 – 50 High risk V >50 Very high risk

Heavy-Metal Fractionation in surface sediments was studied by Dhanakumar et. al. [124] in the Cauvery river estuarine region, southeastern coast of India. The results revealed that most of the samples fall under the category from low- to high-risk class and from low-risk to very

From the above discussion it is revealed that geochemical fractionation approach to the chemical speciation has provided a useful tool and opens a new dimension in assessing the potential mobility/bioavailability of heavy metals and metalloids in soils/sediments and opens a new dimension in the field of ecology and environmental chemistry. More efficient, nonlaborious and time saving processes techniques in this field of chemical speciation are also coming up to get valid information regarding geochemical behavior of soils/sediments. Besides geochemical fractionation, Dezileau et al. [125] opined that total Fe or Fe/Al may be used to infer millennial-scales climate changes in the south eastern pacific while performing sequential extraction of Fe in marine sediments from the Chileau continental margin. However, the chemical partitioning should be carefully used in the assessment of environmental pollution as large amount of metals may naturally occur as anthropogenic fractions (including loosely

The authors gratefully acknowledge full support and cooperation of the Springer press, UK for extending permission in publishing the research paper of the journal Environmental

This study was partially supported by the European Fund for Economic and Regional Development (FEDER) through the Program Operational Factors of Competitiveness (COM‐ PETE) and National Funds through the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology

high-risk class in terms of labile fractions of Pb as well as Zn and Cu, respectively.

bonded ions, sulfide ions and metals associated with sediments).

Monitoring & Assessment, vol. 184(12), pp:7561-77, 2012.

(PEST-C/MAR/UI 0284/2011, FCOMP 01 0124 FEDER 022689).

**Table 8.** Criteria of Risk Assessment Code [123].

746 Environmental Risk Assessment of Soil Contamination

**8. Conclusion**

**Acknowledgements**

Santosh Kumar Sarkar1 , Paulo J.C. Favas2,3\*, Dibyendu Rakshit1 and K.K. Satpathy4

\*Address all correspondence to: pjcf@utad.pt

1 Department of Marine Science, University of Calcutta, Calcutta, West Bengal, India

2 Department of Geology, School of Life Sciences and the Environment, University of Trásos-Montes e Alto Douro, Vila Real, Portugal

3 IMAR-CMA Marine and Environmental Research Centre, Faculty of Sciences and Technol‐ ogy, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal

4 Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research, Environment and Safety Division, Kalpakkam, Tamil Nadu, India
