Groundwater Molybdenum from Emerging Industries in Taiwan

Abstract

This study determined the influence of emerging industries development on molybdenum (Mo) groundwater contamination. A total of 537 groundwater samples were collected for Mo determination, including 295 samples from potentially contaminated areas of 3 industrial parks in Taiwan and 242 samples from non-potentially contaminated areas during 2008-2014. Most of the high Mo samples are located downstream from a thin film transistor-liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) panel factory. Mean groundwater Mo concentrations from potentially contaminated areas (0.0058mg/L) were significantly higher (p<0.05) than those from non-potentially contaminated areas (0.0022mg/L). The highest Mo wastewater concentrations in the effluent from the optoelectronics industry and following wastewater batch treatment were 0.788 and 0.0326mg/L, respectively. This indicates that wastewater containing Mo is a possible source of both groundwater and surface water contamination. Nine samples of groundwater exceed the World Health Organization's suggested drinking water guideline of 0.07mg/L. A non-carcinogenic risk assessment for Mo in adults and children using the Mo concentration of 0.07mg/L yielded risks of 0.546 and 0.215, respectively. These results indicate the importance of the development of a national drinking water quality standard for Mo in Taiwan to ensure safe groundwater for use. According to the human health risk calculation, the groundwater Mo standard is suggested as 0.07mg/L. Reduction the discharge of Mo-contaminated wastewater from factories in the industrial parks is also the important task in the future.