Spatial Distribution and Health Risk Assessment of Heavy Metals in the Groundwater of Selected Watersheds of Srinagar and Pulwama districts of Kashmir Himalaya
Rameez A Shah, Aurooj Shafi, S M A Andrabi, Sami Ullah Bhat, Aadil Hamid, N.C. Mondal
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
The global concern is growing about the increasing risk of people being exposed to heavy metals through drinking water. In this backdrop, we carried out an assessment of 464 groundwater samples for heavy metal concentrations of Co, Cr, Fe, Cd, Cu, Al, Mn, Ni, Zn, and Pb through atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AAS) in the year 2020–2021 in Srinagar and Pulwama districts of Kashmir, India. The study examined the spatial distribution of heavy metals like Fe, Zn, Cd, Pb, Cu, Mn, Co, Al, Ni, and Cr, through contour maps and observed overall low in two different seasons of six different watersheds. There is no significant variation between the means of Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Al, Cd, Mn, Ni, Zn and Pb as the value of p is greater than 0.05 which is attributed to different geochemical and hydrochemical setup. Groundwater samples of these watersheds were evaluated by different indices like WQI, EWQI, HMPI, HMEI, HQ, HI, ILCR, CDIoral, and CDIdermal for health risk assessment as well as to determine its suitability for drinking purposes. The water quality index (WQI) indicated that all of the samples (100%) were fit for drinking purposes. The EWQI was quite low, indicating that the water was of high quality for drinking. Health quotient (HQoral) values and the health quotient (HQdermal) values were < 1 signaling no potential non-carcinogenic health risk. Notwithstanding the above, an assessment of the incremental lifetime cancer risk (ILCR) revealed that individuals residing in the area may face potential cancer risks in the future through both oral and dermal pathways. This is due to the situation that ingestion of groundwater contaminated with Cd over a lifetime could result in a potential cancer risk of 5 individuals per every 106 people in the long term, which can be a significant cause for concern.
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.
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Water, Air, & Soil Pollution publishes research papers; review articles; mini-reviews; and book reviews.