Arsenic in groundwater and its health risk assessment in drinking water of Mailsi, Punjab, Pakistan

Abstract

The present study was aimed to assess drinking water quality regarding arsenic (As) and its impact on health from Mailsi (Punjab), Pakistan. Forty four groundwater samples were collected from two sites Sarganaand Mailsi. Arsenic and other cations were determined by atomic absorption spectrophotometer, whereas the anions were determined either through titration or spectrophotometer. The results revealed that dominant anions were HCO 3 -and Cl -and Ca +2 was the dominant cation andoverall water chemistry of the area was CaMgHCO 3 -type. Arsenic concentrations were high, rangedfrom 11 to 828 µg/L that crossed the World Health Organization permissible limits. Likewise, higher SO 4 -2 concentrations ranging from 247 to 1053 mg/L were observed. The health risk index was higher in Sargana site which employed the differences in terms of higher Average Daily Dose,,Hazard Quotient , and Carcinogenic Risk of arsenic. which is unsuitable for drinking purpose. The area seems to be at high risk due to arsenic Downloaded by [University of Otago] at 05:24 06 July 2015 ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT 2 pollution and wells have never been tested for arsenic concentrations earlier, therefore necessary measures should be taken to test the wells with respect to arsenic.

Health Risk Assessment of Inorganic Arsenic Through Groundwater Drinking Pathway in some Agricultural Districts of Hamedan, West of Iran

“…These results disagreed the findings of Liang et al who reported that about 48% of the inhabitants of Pingtung Plain, Taiwan, were under health risks from chronic poisoning because of drinking arsenic-contaminated water (3). In another study, Rasool et al reported that since mean values of HQ were greater than 1, health effects of chronic arsenic exposure occurred through consumption of groundwater resources in Mailsi and Punjab, Pakistan (25). Likewise, Singh and Ghosh reported that health risk occurred due to the consumption of arsenic-contaminated groundwater in Patna district, India (26).…”

Extensive arsenic contamination in high-pH unconfined aquifers in the Indus Valley

“…Because it is of primary importance whether or not the arsenic concentration in groundwater poses a health hazard, we used logistic regression analysis to model arsenic concentration in groundwater being above or below the WHO guideline of 10 and 50 μg/liter. We used our own groundwater quality data ( n = 1184) as well as those from the previously mentioned studies ( 20 , 30 , 37 – 41 , 51 , 59 ), which constitute 69 additional samples in total.…”

Hazardous Pollutants in Potable Groundwater Sources of Public Schools, Southern Punjab (Pakistan)

“…Evaluation of heavy metal concentration and health risk assessment have been carried out in various studies which reveal that overall excess concentration of all these metals is toxic (Adepoju-Bello et al 2005, Venkatramanan et al 2015. In order to evaluate physical, chemical and microbiological quality of drinking water and estimate associated health risks, a large number of other investigations have also been conducted revealing contamination of most of the water samples analyzed either with chemical and/or microbiological contaminants (Khan et al 2001, Imitiaz, et al 2004, Akhter et al 2010, Mohsin et al 2013, Shakoor et al 2015, Rasool et al 2016, Alamgir et al 2016.…”