Spatial variations and health risk assessment of heavy metal levels in groundwater of Qatar

Abstract

The present work’s objective is to give a comprehensive overview of the quality of groundwater in Qatar in terms of heavy metals content as well as investigating the cause and effect of the elevation in their levels above the WHO/US-EPA standards. The scope of the study included (1) physical and chemical analysis of 82 groundwater samples collected from various locations around Qatar, (2) development of ArcGIS maps depicting the variations in the levels, (3) assessment of the human health risks associated with the existing levels using three of the most used models which are: Hazard index (HI), Nemerow comprehensive pollution index (NCPI) and Incremental Lifetime Cancer Risk (ILCR). There is no extensive study ever reported to assess the health risks linked with the consumption of groundwater characterized with such heavy metals levels in Qatar. The chronic daily intake (CDI) of the investigated heavy metals (Ag, Mn, Cr, V, Mo and Sr) through ingestion and dermal pathways had a range of 1.4 × 10–5–6.7 × 10–1 mg/kg/day while the NCPI’s range was reported at 0–4.39. Moreover, the HI and ILCR were found to have a range of 0–3.2 and 5.6 × 10–4–5.5 × 10–2, respectively. The assessment of health risks, conducted in the present work, could be beneficial in building the baseline of heavy metals levels in groundwater in Qatar. This will also help in the determination of any future contamination of groundwater.