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Groundwater Pollution by Trace Metals and Human Health Risk Assessment in Central West Part of Bangladesh

Md Bodrud-Dozaa
Climate Change Programme (CCP), BRAC, Dhaka, 1212, Bangladesh

S.M. Didar-Ul Islamb
Department of Environmental Sciences, Jahangirnagar University, Dhaka, 1342, Bangladesh

Md. Tareq Hasanc
Department of Public Health and Informatics, Jahangirnagar University, Dhaka, 1342, Bangladesh

Ferdous Alamd
Institute of Nuclear Science and Technology, Atomic Energy Research Establishment, Savar, Dhaka, 1349, Bangladesh e Department of Disaster Management, Begum Rokeya University, Rangpur, 5400, Bangladesh

Md. Morshedul Haqueb
Department of Environmental Sciences, Jahangirnagar University, Dhaka, 1342, Bangladesh

M.A. Rakibe
Department of Disaster Management, Begum Rokeya University, Rangpur, 5400, Bangladesh

Md. Ashadudzaman Asada
Climate Change Programme (CCP), BRAC, Dhaka, 1212, Bangladesh

Md. Abdur Rahman
Department of Public Health and Informatics, Jahangirnagar University, Dhaka, 1342, Bangladesh

Abstract/ Executive Summary:

To evaluate the trace element contamination level and human health risk in study area, a total of twenty groundwater samples were collected and analyzed for pH, EC, Cu, Cd, Fe, Mn, Ni, and Zn. The results revealed that, groundwater is slightly acidic in nature with the mean conductance of 686.10 μs/cm. Heavy metal evaluation index (HEI), the degree of contamination (Cd) and nemerow pollution index (NI) were employed to estimate the pollution load, and it was found 5%, 95%, and 75% of samples exhibit a high degree of pollution respectively. According to the spatial analysis it was found that, south-central part of the study area is highly contaminated with trace elements. Moreover, Pearson correlation, principal component analysis (PCA) and cluster analysis (CA) were applied to identify the pollution source and factors controlling groundwater quality, and the results indicate that groundwater of the study area were influenced by both natural and anthropogenic factors. Chronic health risk via exposure of both oral and dermal routes were also determined by calculating the hazard quotient (HQ) and hazard index (HI), for both adults and children. In case of oral exposure, almost 85% of samples suggest the medium category of chronic risk for adult, and 50% of samples were found at high risk for children. Again, dermal exposure showed comparatively lower risk than oral exposure, and 55% and 80% of samples attributed medium chronic risk for adult and children respectively. However, the carcinogenic risk of cadmium (Cd) via oral exposure pathway suggests, all of the samples are at high risk for both adults and children. Average lifetime cancer risks (LTCR) of Cd for both adult and children were found to be 4.55E-4 and 5.59E-4 respectively, that indicated high carcinogenic risk. Results of sensitivity analysis specified concentration have high impact on carcinogenic risk both for adult and children.

Keywords: Chronic risk, Groundwater, Heavy metals, Lifetime cancer risks (LTCR), Multivariate statistics, Sensitivity analysis,

Location: Damurhuda Upazila, under Chuadanga District, Bangladesh

Start Date:

End Date:

Program Area: Risk Management in Agriculture

Commodity: Groundwater, Pollution

Objectives:

To determine the level of trace elements in the groundwater samples along with their health risk assessment of adult and children's exposures via both oral and dermal pathways.

Methodology:

Study area: Damurhuda Upazila, under Chuadanga District is located in the central west part of Bangladesh, a part of the Gangetic delta. Geographically it positioned between 23°29′ and 23°42′ N latitudes and 88°39′ and 88°51′ E longitudes. Geologically the area lies in the Faridpur trough of Bengal foredeep, which is nearly the Hinge zone in the west and Barisal-Faridpur uplift in the east. Faridpur trough is characterized by a general gravity low of a northeast trend which is apparently related to a general subsidence of the basement (Khan, 1991). Lithological characteristics of the study area is composed of coarse to fine grained sediments, gravely sand and some places fine sand to silt deposits (DPHE-JICA, 2010; Hossain et al., 2014). However, the total area of the Upazila is 308.11 km², with a population of 2,13,291 (BBS, 2011). The annual average temperature in study area varied from 11.2 to 37.1 °C, with an annual average rainfall 1467 mm (BMD, 2018). Major land use categories identified in Damurhuda Upazila are agricultural land use, rural settlement and homestead vegetation, and water bodies. Agriculture lands occupy more than three-quarters land of the study area. The sources of drinking water for the natives are tube-well (94.53%), tap water (1.02%), pond water (0.12%) and others (4.33%) (Banglapedia, 2015). So, major portion of water that meet the local demands are coming from groundwater resources. Total 18.77% (urban 34.63% and rural 14.27%) of dwelling households of the Upazila use sanitary latrines and 50.65% (urban 43.39% and rural 52.71%) of dwelling households use non-sanitary latrines; 30.58% of households do not have latrine facilities (BBS, 2011). 2.2. Sampling and analytical procedure: A total of 20 groundwater samples were collected from the pre-selected sampling locations of the study area during the period of June 2016. The depths of the sampled tube wells were varied from 40 to 90 ft. (12.19–27.43 m) recorded from the information from well owners. Geographical locations of the selected wells were determined by global positioning system (GPS) receiver (Kansas USA). Prior to sampling, each well were pumped for 10 min until it purged out approximately twice the well volume, or until steady-state chemical conditions were obtained (USGS, 2006). Groundwater samples were collected using pre-washed, high-density polyethylene bottles. The bottles were cleaned by soaking in 0.5 mol/L HCl followed by 0.1 mol/L NaOH for 24 h each. The samples were stored on an icebox and returned to the laboratory. For measurement of metal concentrations, 65% concentrated HNO3 acid were added to each sample immediately to bring the pH blow 2 to minimize precipitation and adsorption onto bottles walls (APHA, 1998). Pollution evaluation indices: Heavy metal evaluation index (HEI), Degree of contamination (Cd) and Nemerow pollution index (NI) were investigated for the purpose of evaluating drinking suitability. HEI gives an insight the overall quality of the groundwater with respect to trace metals (Edet and Offiong, 2002).

Source of Information: Groundwater for Sustainable Development 9 (2019) 100219

Article Link (Online Journal):

Funding Source:

Budget:

Total Budget (Tk.) :

Achievement/Findings:

Conclusions Present study evaluated the pH, EC, Cu, Cd, Fe, Mn, Ni and Zn concentrations of groundwater samples collected from Damurhuda Upazila, located at the central west part of Bangladesh. Except Cu and Zn all others trace elements exceed the standard permissible limits for drinking water. Results of HEI suggest almost 50% of samples fall in medium degree of pollution, while 95% and 75% samples exhibit high degree of pollution in case of Cd and NI respectively. Source apportionment results using PCA and CA indicate groundwater of sampling sites were influenced by both natural and anthropogenic sources. However, the highest HQ oral and HQ dermal values of Cu, Cd, Fe, Mn, Ni and Zn were found in the sampling sites S20, S5, S19, S6, S20 and S17 for both adult and children. HQ values greater than 1 in all most all the sampling sites for cadmium raising concerns about both chronic and carcinogenic health risk. In case of chronic health risk via both oral and dermal exposure pathways children are more vulnerable with high health risk. But, both adult and children are at high risk due to oral exposure of cadmium-containing groundwater. From study it was found that, south-central part of the study area is highly contaminated with trace elements and falls in higher health risk of both chronic and carcinogenic risk. So, people of these areas should concern about to consume of groundwater, and need to find out alternative sources of drinking water.

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