Abstract
Groundwater contamination and its consequences for human health is a serious concern all over the world. This research aims to examine heavy metal pollution and non-carcinogenic health concerns in the groundwater of Arani’s industrial zones. Eighty-eight samples were collected and analysed for heavy metal concentrations (Pb, Cu, Ni, Mn, Zn, and Cr) during pre-monsoon and post-monsoon season, with 44 samples collected each season. The results reveal that metals such as Ni, Pb, and Cr concentrations in both seasons are higher than the World Health Organization’s permissible limit. The values for the degree of contamination (DOC) and the potential ecological risk index (PERI) indicate that the groundwater quality has improved significantly during the post-monsoon season. The non-carcinogenic risk for infants during pre and post monsoon ranges between 1.80E + 00–2.66E + 01 and 1.40E-01–5.08E + 01, for children between 2.17E + 00–2.97E + 01 and 2.70E-01–1.97E + 01, and for adults between 2.00E + 00–3.1E + 01 and 2.03E-01–2.04E + 01. The hazardous index value of more than one for nearly 90% of the samples in both seasons suggests that the groundwater is severely contaminated with heavy metals.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data availability
Not applicable.
References
Adimalla N (2019) Spatial distribution, exposure, and potential health risk assessment from nitrate in drinking water from semi-arid region of South India. Hum Ecol Risk Assess Int J 26:310–334. https://doi.org/10.1080/10807039.2018.1508329
Adimalla N, Qian H (2018) Groundwater quality evaluation using water quality index (WQI) for drinking purposes and human health risk (HHR) assessment in an agricultural region of Nanganur, south India. Ecotoxicol Environ Saf 176:153–161. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoenv.2019.03.066
Adimalla N, Venkatayogi S (2017) Mechanism of fluoride enrichment in groundwater of hard rock aquifers in Medak, Telangana State, South India. Environ Earth Sci 76:45. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-016-6362-2
Amiri V, Nakhaei M, Lak R, Li P (2021a) An integrated statistical-graphical approach for the appraisal of the natural background levels of some major ions and potentially toxic elements in the groundwater of Urmia aquifer, Iran. Environ Earth Sci. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-021-09733-0
Amiri V, Li P, Bhattacharya P, Nakhaei M (2021c) Mercury pollution in the coastal Urmia aquifer in northwestern Iran: potential sources, mobility, and toxicity. Environ Sci Pollut Res. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-11865-y
Amiri V, Bhattacharya P, Nakhae M (2021b) The hydrogeochemical evaluation of groundwater resources and their suitability for agricultural and industrial uses in an arid area of Iran. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gsd.2020.100527
Augustsson A, Söderberg TU, Fröberg M, Kleja DBB, Aström M, Svensson PA, Jarsjö J (2020) Failure of generic risk assessment model framework to predict groundwater pollution risk at hundreds of metal contaminated sites: implications for research needs. Environ Res 185:109252. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2020.109252
Bhattacharjee S, Chakravarty S, Maity S, Dureja V, Gupta KK (2005) Metal contents in the groundwater of Sahebgunj district, Jharkhand, India, with special reference to arsenic. Chemosphere 58:1203–1217. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2004.09.055
Chen J, Wu H, Qian H (2016) Groundwater nitrate contamination and associated health risk for the rural communities in an agricultural area of Ningxia, northwest China. Expo Health 8:349–359. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12403-016-0208-8
Emenike CP, Tenebe IT, Omole DO, Ngene BU, Oniemayin BI, Maxwell O, Onoka BI (2017) Accessing safe drinking water in sub-Saharan Africa: issues and challenges in south-west Nigeria. Sustain Cities Soc 30:263–272. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2017.01.005
Griebler C, Avramov M (2015) Groundwater ecosystem services: a review. Freshw Sci 34:355–367. https://doi.org/10.1086/679903
Hakanson L (1980) An ecological risk index for aquatic pollution control: a sedimentological approach. Water Res 14:975–1001. https://doi.org/10.1016/0043-1354(80)90143-8
Hu B, Jia X, Hu J, Xu D, Xia F, Li Y (2017) Assessment of heavy metal pollution and health risks in the soil-plant-human system in the Yangtze River delta, China. Int J Environ Res Publ Health 14:1042. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph14091042
Jeong C-B, Lee YH, Park JC, Kang H-M, Hagiwara A, Lee J-S (2019) Effects of metal-polluted seawater on life parameters and the induction of oxidative stress in the marine rotifer Brachionus koreanus. Comp Biochem Physiol C Toxicol Pharmacol 225:108576. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cbpc.2019.108576
Jiang Z, Hsu Y-J, Yuan L, Cheng S, Li Q, Li M (2021) Estimation of daily hydrological mass changes using continuous GNSS measurements in mainland China.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2021.127082
Kanungo TD, Gupta A (2011) The hydrochemistry of groundwater in South Assam (Barak Valley), India. Assam Univ J Sci Technol 7:132–138
Karunanidhi D, Aravinthasamy P, Deepali M, Subramani T, Roy PD (2020) The effects of geochemical processes on groundwater chemistry and the health risks associated with fluoride intake in a semi-arid region of South India. RSC Adv 10:4840–4859. https://doi.org/10.1039/c9ra10332e
Koelmans AA, Nor NHM, Hermsen E, Kooi M, Mintenig SM, France JD (2019) Microplastics in freshwaters and drinking water: critical review and assessment of data quality. Water Res 155:410–422. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2019.02.054
Li X, Liu L, Wang Y, Luo G, Chen X, Yang X, Hall MHP, Guo R, Wang H, Cui J, He X (2013) Heavy metal contamination of urban soil in an old industrial city (Shenyang) in Northeast China. Geoderma 192:50–58. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2012.08.011
Li P, Qian H, Wu J (2018) Conjunctive use of groundwater and surface water to reduce soil salinisation in the Yinchuan plain, North-West China. Int J Water Resour Dev 34:337–353. https://doi.org/10.1080/07900627.2018.1443059
Long X, Liu F, Zhou X, Pi J, Yin W, Li F, Huang S, Ma F (2020) Estimation of spatial distribution and health risk by arsenic and heavy metals in shallow groundwater around Dongting Lake plain using GIS mapping. 269:128698. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2020.128698
Magesh NS, Chandrasekar N, Elango L (2017) Trace element concentrations in the groundwater of the Tamiraparani river basin, South India: insights from human health risk and multivariate statistical techniques. Chemosphere 185:468–479. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2017.07.044
Nakhaei M, Dadgar MA, Amiri V (2016) Geochemical processes analysis and evaluation of groundwater quality in Hamadan Province, Western Iran. Arab J Geosci. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-016-2409-7
Narsimha A, Rajitha S (2018) Spatial distribution and seasonal variation in fluoride enrichment in groundwater and its associated human health risk assessment in Telangana State. South India Hum Ecol Risk Assess 24:2119–2132. https://doi.org/10.1080/10807039.2018.1438176
Perez N, Schwarz AO, Barahona E, Sanhueza P, Diaz I, Urrutia H (2018) Performance of two differently designed permeable reactive barriers with sulfate and zinc solutions. Sci Total Environ 642:894–903. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.06.046
Phan K, Sthiannopkao S, Kim K-W, Wong MH, Sao V, Hashim JH, Yasin MSM, Aljunid SM (2010) Health risk assessment of inorganic arsenic intake of Cambodia residents through groundwater drinking pathway. Water Res 44:5777–5788. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2010.06.021
Pratush A, Kumar A, Hu Z (2018) Adverse effect of heavy metals (As, Pb, Hg, and Cr) on health and their bioremediation strategies: a review. Int Microbiol 21:97–106. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10123-018-0012-3
Qingjie G, Jun D, Yunchuan X, Qingfei W, Liqiang Y (2008) Calculating pollution indices by heavy metals in ecological geochemistry assessment and a case study in parks of Beijing. J China Univ Geosci 19:230–241. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1002-0705(08)60042-4
Rajasekhar B, Nambi IM, Govindarajan SK (2018) Human health risk assessment of ground water contaminated with petroleum PAHs using Monte Carlo simulations: a case study of an Indian metropolitan city. J Environ Manag 205:183–191. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2017.09.078
Rana R, Ganguly R, Gupta AK (2018) Indexing method for assessment of pollution potential of leachate from non-engineered landfill sites and its effect on ground water quality. Environ Monit Assess. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-017-6417-1
Ravenscroft P, McArthur JM, Hoque MA (2013) Stable groundwater quality in deep aquifers of Southern Bangladesh: the case against sustainable abstraction. Sci Total Environ 454:627–638. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2013.02.071
Ravindra K, Mor S (2019) Distribution and health risk assessment of arsenic and selected heavy metals in Groundwater of Chandigarh, India. Environ Pollut 250:820–830. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2019.03.080
Saleh HN, Panahande M, Yousefi M, Asghari FB, Conti GO, Talaee E, Mohammadi AA (2019) Carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risk assessment of heavy metals in groundwater wells in Neyshabur Plain, Iran. Biol Trace Elem Res 190:251–261. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-018-1516-6
Santos PRS, Fernandes GJT, Moraes EP, Moreira LFF (2019) Tropical climate effect on the toxic heavy metal pollutant course of road-deposited sediments. Environ Pollut 251:766–772. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2019.05.043
Sharma A, Ganguly R, Gupta AK (2020) Impact assessment of leachate pollution potential on groundwater: an indexing method. J Environ Eng. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)EE.1943-7870.0001647
Singh UK, Ramanathan AL, Subramanian V (2018) Groundwater chemistry and human health risk assessment in the mining region of East Singhbhum, Jharkhand, India. Chemosphere 204:501–513. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2018.04.060
Sivakumar K, Priya J, Muthusamy S, Saravanan P, Jayaprakash M (2016) Spatial diversity of major ionic absorptions in groundwater: recent study from the industrial region of Tuticorin, Tamil, Nadu, India. Enviro Geochem Acta 3:138–147
Nassim Sohrabi, Nasrollah Kalantari, Vahab Amiri, Narottam Saha, Ronny Berndtsson, Prosun Bhattacharya & Arslan Ahmad (2020) A probabilistic-deterministic analysis of human health risk related to the exposure to potentially toxic elements in groundwater of Urmia coastal aquifer (NW of Iran) with a special focus on arsenic speciation and temporal variation: Stochastic Environmental Research and Risk Assessment. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00477-020-01934-6.
Subba Rao N, Marghade D, Dinakar A, Chandana I, Sunitha B, Ravindra B, Balaji T (2017) Geochemical characteristics and controlling factors of chemical composition of groundwater in a part of Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh. India Environ Earth Sci 76:747. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-017-7093-8
Tomlinson DL, Wilson JG, Harris CR, Jeffrey DW (1980) Problems in the assessment of heavy metal levels in estuaries and the formation of a pollution index. Helgol Mar Res 33:566–575. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02414780
USEPA (2001) Baseline human health risk assessment Vasquez Boulevard and I-70 Superfund Site.Denver CO. http://www.epa.gov/region8/superfund/sites/VB-170-Risk.pdf. Accessed 20 Jan 2011
USEPA (2004) Risk assessment guidance for superfund volume I: Human health evaluation manual (Part E). http://www.epa.gov/oswer/riskassessment/ragse/pdf/introduction.pdf
Vetrimurugan E, Brindha K, Elango L, Ndwandwe OM (2017) Human exposure risk to heavy metals through groundwater used for drinking in an intensively irrigated river delta. Appl Water Sci 7:3267–3280. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13201-016-0472-6
WHO (2006) Protecting groundwater for health: managing the quality of drinking-water sources. IWA Publishing, pp 4–5
WHO (2017) Guidelines for drinking-water quality: Fourth Edition Incorporating the first addendum. World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland
Wu J, Li P, Wang D, Ren X, Wei M (2019) Statistical and multivariate statistical techniques to trace the sources and affecting factors of groundwater pollution in a rapidly growing city on the Chinese Loess Plateau. Hum Ecol Risk Assess 26:1603–1621. https://doi.org/10.1080/10807039.2019.1594156
Zahedi S, Azarnivand A, Chitsaz N (2017) Groundwater quality classification derivation using multi-criteria-decision-making techniques. Ecol Indic 78:243–252. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2017.03.015
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
Mohana Perumal: conceptualization, writing — original draft. Selva Ganapathy Velusamy: methodology, software, validation and data curation. Muthusamy Subramanian: methodology, data curation. T. Naveen Raj: software, validation data. Dr. M. Sunandana Reddy: sampling, laboratory analysis.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Ethics approval and consent to participate
Not applicable.
Consent for publication
Not applicable.
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing interests.
Additional information
Responsible Editor: Broder J. Merkel
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Perumal, M., Velusamy, S.G., Subramanian, M. et al. Heavy metal contamination and the assessment of health risks in groundwater in Arani industrial zones in Southern India. Arab J Geosci 15, 948 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-022-10223-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-022-10223-1