Physicochemical Characteristics and Health Risk Assessment of Drinking Water Sources in Okoroette Community, Eastern Coast of Nigeria

Arsenic (As) contamination in groundwater is a major environmental problem in West Bengal. People in rural West Bengal are mostly dependent on community deep tube wells for drinking purpose. North 24 Praganas in West Bengal is one of the most Arsenic affected districts in India. Most of the deep tube wells currently being used in North 24 Praganas have already been declared to be contaminated with Arsenic. Time to time evaluation of suitability of these water sources for drinking purposes and the assessment of health risk are very essential for knowing the severity of the condition and accordingly take timely mitigation measures. In this paper, the Water Quality Index(WQI) has been determined and Health Risk Assessment has been done for drinking water sources currently in use in one of the chronically Arsenic affected Basirhat-1 block of North 24 Praganas. For calculating WQI, the weighted arithmetic water quality index method has been adopted by taking pH, TDS, Sulphates, DO(Dissolved Oxygen), total Alkalinity, Total hardness, EC, Chloride and total Arsenic as parameters. The Health Risk Assessment has been done by considering the total Arsenic found in the water samples. For Health Risk Assessment, cancer and non-cancer risk assessment were done by following the deterministic method of risk assessment recommended by US EPA (Environmental Protection Agency). The WQI results indicates that all the sampled deep tube wells of the studied area are highly unsuitable for drinking purpose. Arsenic content was found to be 4 to 24 times higher than the permissible limit. The Hazard Quotient of the sampled studied sources was calculated to be in the range of 2 to 9 which signifies the vulnerable health risk due to non-carcinogenic effect due to Arsenic. The cancer risk assessment gives a further alarming picture of the area with 1-4 persons for every 1000 population in Basirhat-1 block are prone to Cancer risk due to Arsenic. The study recommends immediate measures in the area to make all the current drinking water sources Arsenic free.

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Health Risk Assessment for Exposure to Nitrate in Drinking Water in Central Java, Indonesia

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph18052368 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (5) ◽

pp. 2368

Author(s):

Callum Lowe ◽

Johanna Kurscheid ◽

Aparna Lal ◽

Ross Sadler ◽

Matthew Kelly ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Risk Assessment ◽

Drinking Water ◽

Health Risk ◽

Health Outcomes ◽

Health Risk Assessment ◽

Nitrate Concentration ◽

Epidemiological Studies ◽

Water Sources ◽

Central Java ◽

Nitrate Concentrations

Since 2005, over 30 epidemiological studies have evaluated the association between nitrate in drinking water and adverse health outcomes. Conditions that lead to nitrate pollution in water, such as open defecation, the proximity of septic tanks to water sources, and the use of inorganic fertilizer, are rampant in Indonesia, which has experienced little research evaluating nitrate in drinking water. We conducted a health risk assessment for exposure to nitrate in drinking water and evaluated the nitrate concentration in key water sources in two villages of rural Central Java, Indonesia. The nitrate concentrations in the drinking water ranged from 3.55 mg/L to 26.75 mg/L as NO3−. Daily nitrate intake estimates, calculated at 50% and 95% exposure to the maximum nitrate concentration of the drinking water in both villages, were above the levels associated with birth defects, colorectal cancer, and thyroid conditions observed in other studies. There was a large variation in nitrate concentrations between and within the villages at different water sources. Further research into whether these health outcomes exist in rural Central Java, Indonesia will be required to better understand this risk.

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