Health Risk of the Shallow Groundwater and Its Suitability for Drinking Purpose in Tongchuan, China

Abstract

Studying the quality and health risks of groundwater is of great significance for sustainable water resources utilization, especially in arid and semi-arid areas around the world. The current study is carried out to evaluate the quality and potential health risks of groundwater in the Tongchuan area on the Loess Plateau, northwest China. Water quality index (WQI) and hydrochemical correlation analysis were implemented to understand the status of groundwater quality. Daily average exposure dosages through the oral and dermal contact exposure pathways were taken into consideration to calculate the health risks to the human body. Additionally, graphical approaches such as Piper diagram, Durov diagram and GIS mapping were used to help better understand the results of this study. The WQI approach showed that 77.1% of the samples were of excellent quality. The most significant parameters affecting water quality were NO3−, F−, and Cr6+. The health risk assessment results showed that 27.1% and 54.2% of the samples lead to non-carcinogenic risks through oral intake for adults and children, respectively. In contrast, 12.5% of the groundwater samples would result in carcinogenic risks to the residents. This study showed that the WQI method needs to be supplemented by a health risk evaluation to obtain comprehensive results for groundwater quality protection and management in the Tongchuan area.

Impact of stone quarries on groundwater quality at Achenkovil River Basin, Southern Western Ghats, India: Investigation using WQI and GIS

“…The water quality index (WQI) is a quantitative parameter in a single unit, using various chemical parameters (Nsabimana et al., 2021). Primarily, special weightage (Wi) on a scale of 1–4 was assigned from the slightest consequence to the highest outcome to every elemental water quality parameter (Exhibit 2) based on their claimed impact and their relative extent (Gayathri et al., 2021).…”

“…The water quality index (WQI) is a quantitative parameter in a single unit, using various chemical parameters (Nsabimana et al, 2021).…”

Achieving the One Health Goal: Highlighting Groundwater Quality and Public Health

“…Serious fecal contamination was discovered in the water resources in this research, and some short-term sustainable measures were proposed for mitigating the associated health risks. To evaluate the quality and potential health risks of groundwater in the Tongchuan area, China, Nsabimana et al [47] conducted a water quality and health risk assessment. The main contribution of this research was that it combined a carcinogenic risk assessment and noncarcinogenic risk assessment, and proved that traditional water quality assessments must be supplemented with health risk assessments to obtain completeness and comprehensiveness of the assessment.…”

Human Health Risk Assessment of Heavy Metals and Nitrates Associated with Oral and Dermal Groundwater Exposure: The Poirino Plateau Case Study (NW Italy)

“…Human health risk assessments allow us to define health risks through the evaluation of negative effects that occur in a person following an exposure. Many studies highlight greater noncarcinogenic and carcinogenic risks in women compared to men [7,8], particularly for pregnant women [9], as well as greater risks in children compared to adults [10][11][12][13][14]. Furthermore, oral exposure appears to have more risk effects than dermal exposure [15,16].…”