Arsenic pollution and associated human health hazards in Rupnagar district, Punjab, India.

Abstract

The hydrosphere although covering almost 70% of the Earth contributes only 3% of fresh water out of which groundwater covers almost 98%. The presence of some unwanted substance in this limited natural resource causes pollution when the substance causes serious harm to human beings and to the total ecosystem in a way. Arsenic is such a pollutant that is most naturally released in groundwater and long-term exposure to As-rich groundwater causes skin lesions and often leads to different types of cancers in humans. Rupnagar district in the Malwa region of Punjab is situated alongside the river Satluj which is one of the five important tributaries of Indus. The lowest reported concentration of As in this district is 10µg/L and the highest is 91µg/L. The higher values of As (> 50µg/L) that are above the permissible limit of IS 10500, 2004 in drinking water, are dominantly found in the western and south-western parts of the district. The average hazard quotient (HQ) indicates high risk for the consumers of the As-polluted groundwater in the district. The present study deals with the major cause of high arsenic (As) concentration in groundwater and its correlation with intensive agriculture in the Rupnagar district. Owing to the large size of the district, GIS techniques like ArcGIS 10.4.1 and QGIS 3.22.8 software were used for analysis in this study. The study reveals that high As concentration (> 50µg/L) is mostly found in agricultural lands and moderate concentration of As (10-50µg/L) in groundwater is distributed all over the district and are mostly reported from the urbanised areas. Overall, the water table shows a declining trend but no such decline is observed in the western and south-western parts of the district. As pollution in groundwater can also be caused due to water level decline owing to intensive agriculture and rapid water abstraction though As is naturally sourced in groundwater. A detailed study using the geochemical analysis of groundwater in the district can be effective in clearing out the scenario in the study area.