International Science Community Association International Research Journal of Earth Sciences 2321 - 2527 4 4 2016 April 25 Assessment of the Environmental Significance of Heavy Metal Pollution in Surficial Sediments of Uppanar River, Cuddalore District, Tamil Nadu, India 1 8 EN R. Rajmohan 1 Department of Earth Sciences, Annamalai University, Annamalainagar, Tamil Nadu, India M.V. Mukesh 2 Department of Earth Sciences, Annamalai University, Annamalainagar, Tamil Nadu, India A. Chandrasekaran 3 Department of Earth Sciences, Annamalai University, Annamalainagar, Tamil Nadu, India R. Muthukumarasamy 4 Department of Earth Sciences Bahir Dar University, Ethiopia T. Manivel 5 Department of Earth Sciences, Annamalai University, Annamalainagar, Tamil Nadu, India R. Premkumar 6 Department of Earth Sciences, Annamalai University, Annamalainagar, Tamil Nadu, India > Research Paper 2015 12 17 2016 April 25 Worldwide, aquatic ecosystems are contaminated with heavy metals from anthropogenic and terrigenous sources. The objective of this study was to explore the heavy metal pollution of Uppanar river of Cuddalore District. This study is to inspect the load of Cr, Ni, Cu, Pb, and Zn in five surface sediments samples were collected and estimated for heavy metals by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) in order to establish natural background levels of these metals and to evaluate anthropogenic influences on them. The metal concentrations in sediments ranged as Cr 26.28-90. 24ppm; Ni 23.09 - 53.632ppm; Cu 9.987 - 30.548 ppm; Pb 19.957 - 24. 319ppm; Zn 24.705 -132. 548ppm. It is found that every metal concentration is found to be more in Uppanar River, especially in the upstream area of study area. It is concluded that the sources of pollutants in sediments are from anthropogenic by discharge of various industrial effluents from small and large-scale industries located in and around the SIPCOT area and direct discharge of public sewage. Copyright@ International Science Community Association