Tracing the Fate of Metal Contamination in Groundwater and Its Health Risks: Insights from Madurai Block, Tamil Nadu, India

IF 3 4区环境科学与生态学 Q2 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES Water, Air, & Soil Pollution Pub Date : 2025-02-26 DOI:10.1007/s11270-025-07820-7

Muthuramalingam Rajendran, Prabakaran Kulandaisamy, Kongeswaran Thangaraj, Sivakumar Karthikeyan, Venkatramanan Senapathi, Perumal Velmayil, Muruganantham Arumugam, Saravana Kumar Maluventhi, Sathish Sugumaran, Bangarupriyanga Sundaram

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Abstract

This study addresses groundwater quality in Madurai block by examining heavy metal contamination and its potential health risks. Being the second largest city after Chennai, Madurai’s groundwater quality has not been analyzed for heavy metal contamination so far. In 2022, groundwater samples were taken from 60 wells in the pre- and post-monsoon seasons. The heavy metal concentrations of Cu, Cr, Cd, Co, Fe, Mn, Ni and Zn were measured. The results showed that most of the groundwater samples exceeded the (World Health Organisation (2019) World health statistics overview: Monitoring health for the sustainable development goals), (Bureau of Indian Standards (2012) Drinking water specifications) and (USEPA (2018) National primary drinking water regulations (EPA 816-F-09–004)) limits for drinking water. A spatial analysis using kriging interpolation in GIS and a multivariate statistical analysis were performed to decipher the interrelationships of the metals. The results indicate different sources of heavy metals, primarily caused by weathering and evaporation in both seasons. Pollution indices such as HPI, HEI and DOC were used to comprehensively assess the extent of metal pollution in groundwater. The Hazard Quotient and Hazard Index emphasized the significant health risks to infants, children and adults. To improve the quality of groundwater, this region needs to adopt sustainable and environmentally friendly water management strategies, such as rainwater harvesting, wastewater treatment and strict pollution control measures.

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追踪地下水中金属污染的命运及其健康风险：来自印度泰米尔纳德邦马杜赖区块的见解

本研究通过检测重金属污染及其潜在的健康风险来解决马杜赖区块的地下水质量问题。作为仅次于金奈的第二大城市，马杜赖的地下水水质到目前为止还没有进行重金属污染分析。2022年，在季风前和季风后季节从60口井中采集了地下水样本。测定了重金属Cu、Cr、Cd、Co、Fe、Mn、Ni、Zn的浓度。结果表明，大部分地下水样本超过了（世界卫生组织（2019）世界卫生统计概述：监测健康以实现可持续发展目标），（印度标准局（2012）饮用水规范）和（美国环保署（2018）国家初级饮用水法规（EPA 816-F-09-004））饮用水限值。利用GIS中的克里格插值和多元统计分析进行了空间分析，以破译金属的相互关系。结果表明，两个季节的重金属来源不同，主要由风化和蒸发引起。采用HPI、HEI、DOC等污染指数综合评价地下水金属污染程度。危险商数和危险指数强调了婴儿、儿童和成人面临的重大健康风险。为了改善地下水质量，该地区需要采取可持续和环境友好型的水管理策略，如雨水收集、废水处理和严格的污染控制措施。

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来源期刊

Water, Air, & Soil Pollution 环境科学-环境科学

CiteScore

4.50

自引率

6.90%

发文量

448

审稿时长

2.6 months

期刊介绍： Water, Air, & Soil Pollution is an international, interdisciplinary journal on all aspects of pollution and solutions to pollution in the biosphere. This includes chemical, physical and biological processes affecting flora, fauna, water, air and soil in relation to environmental pollution. Because of its scope, the subject areas are diverse and include all aspects of pollution sources, transport, deposition, accumulation, acid precipitation, atmospheric pollution, metals, aquatic pollution including marine pollution and ground water, waste water, pesticides, soil pollution, sewage, sediment pollution, forestry pollution, effects of pollutants on humans, vegetation, fish, aquatic species, micro-organisms, and animals, environmental and molecular toxicology applied to pollution research, biosensors, global and climate change, ecological implications of pollution and pollution models. Water, Air, & Soil Pollution also publishes manuscripts on novel methods used in the study of environmental pollutants, environmental toxicology, environmental biology, novel environmental engineering related to pollution, biodiversity as influenced by pollution, novel environmental biotechnology as applied to pollution (e.g. bioremediation), environmental modelling and biorestoration of polluted environments. Articles should not be submitted that are of local interest only and do not advance international knowledge in environmental pollution and solutions to pollution. Articles that simply replicate known knowledge or techniques while researching a local pollution problem will normally be rejected without review. Submitted articles must have up-to-date references, employ the correct experimental replication and statistical analysis, where needed and contain a significant contribution to new knowledge. The publishing and editorial team sincerely appreciate your cooperation. Water, Air, & Soil Pollution publishes research papers; review articles; mini-reviews; and book reviews.