Abstract:In order to evaluate the heavy metals contamination of groundwater in Barapukuria Coal Mine (BCM) area and its vicinity, nine groundwater samples from different location, two waste water either treated and/or untreated that were used to irrigate in and around the coal mine areas, three surficial soil samples (~20cm depth) and a coal dust sample were collected during March, 2015. The samples were analyzed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Each sample was analyzed for As, Mn, Fe total , Cu, Pb, Zn, Mo, Ni, Co, Cr, Cd and Hg. It was found that As, Cu, Pb, Zn, Mo, Co, Cr, Cd and Hg did not exhibit significant elevated levels, but concentration of Mn, Fe total and Ni ranging from 0.15 to 3.85mg/L, 0 to 1.88mg/L and 0.01 to 0.09mg/L respectively both in groundwater and mine waste water samples exceeded the World Health Organization (WHO, 2004) drinking water guideline values of 0.4mg/L of Mn, 0.3 mg/L of Fe and of 0.02mg/L of Ni. Similarly the mean heavy metal concentrations in soils were below the Bangladesh standards for all heavy metals but the maximum values of Co (137.25 to 245.24mg/kg), Cr (139.02 to 243.38mg/kg) and Hg (0 to 24.28mg/kg) also exceeded the maximum acceptable limit of Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO, 1992) (Co of 50mg/kg, Cr of 100mg/kg) and Environment Agency (EA, 2009) (Hg of 1mg/kg) guideline standard. However, the coal dust was not above the guideline recommended limit for any elements. Therefore, this study reveals that the use of treated and/or untreated coal mine waste water for irrigation has increased the risk of heavy metals contamination in groundwater and causing potential health hazards in the long time term.