Groundwater contamination & health risk assessment with special reference to As in different tehsils of Bhakkar district

Abstract

The present study was conducted to evaluate the concentration of arsenic in groundwater in Bhakkar district, Western Punjab Province, Pakistan. To analyze hydrochemical characteristics, 68 groundwater samples from various water schemes in four tehsils were taken. While most of the samples' concentrations of major cations and anions were within the WHO's maximum allowed range, almost 44% had higher arsenic levels than what was considered acceptable for drinking water. Gibbs diagrams were used to show how groundwater chemistry is affected by the dominance of rocks and evaporation crystallization. An investigation of the Indus River's lateral distribution and upstream to downstream locations' arsenic concentrations showed variability. According to the Health Risk Assessment (HRA), samples from Bhakkar tehsil (73.3%), Darya Khan tehsil (60%), and Kalur Kot tehsil (13.3%) all surpassed the hazard quotient level of “1,” whereas all samples from Mankera tehsil were within acceptable bounds. The hazard quotient numbers displayed a range of 0.038–5.127, with an average of 1.149 – suggesting that a considerable portion of people consuming water laden with high levels of arsenic may suffer from non-cancerous health complications. Moreover, the carcinogenic risk values were as high as 2.31 × 10−3, implying a heightened danger of cancer over the long term due to arsenic-contaminated water. It was determined that Bhakkar tehsil had the highest quantity of arsenic among the tehsils in the Bhakkar district, making the groundwater unfit for drinking.