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Abstract:

Imprudent disposal of industrial by-products leads to many geo-environmental impacts. Fly ash, a by-product from thermal power plants has an adverse effect on the environment but it has also been reported as a source of diverse rare-earth elements. The quantification of various rare-earth elements in the fly ash sample collected from the Parichha thermal power plant (PTPP) at Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh, India, is being reported using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICPMS). Results show that fly ash from PTPP contains micro nutrients such as Mn, Cu, Zn, Ni and Co in normal sub-range and diminutive range of rare earth elements. The toxic elements such as Hg, Pd, Pt, Rh and Zr, and radioactive elements such as ²³⁸U and ²³²Th were below detection limit. These results indicate that the PTPP’s fly ash imparts no ecological or health damage. The presence of elemental concentration in optimal quantities may be useful in the agricultural field for better crop production. The only threat was the incidence of soluble Ba, although its concentration was found very low.