Health Risk Assessment of Heavy Metals in Ground and Tap Water of Chamchamal City - Sulaymaniyah Governorate / Kurdistan Region, Iraq

Abstract

This study focused to determine the heavy metals (i.e. arsenic, copper, chromium, cadmium, cobalt, iron, manganese, molybdenum, nickel, lead and zinc) content in ground and tap water, and their health impacts in Chamchamal city, Sulaymaniyah Governorate, north-eastern Iraq. Twenty five samples were collected (i.e. thirteen groundwater and twelve tab water samples). The inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry technology (ICP-MS), was used to measure the contents of those metals.
 The Heavy metal Pollution Index (HPI) values of some ground and tap waters in the northern part of the study area are moderately polluted. Whereas, far north east of the studied area registered (highly polluted) with heavy metals which could be related to the industrial activities and filtration of these heavy metals from soil to water. Moreover, this study shows that there is no carcinogenic health risk of heavy metals in the studied area. The hazard index (HI) values of the ground and tap water samples in Chamchamal city appears to be less than one for all heavy metals in adults and children. The carcinogenic risk (CR) for arsenic, chromium and lead within the ground and the tap water are within the acceptable range for both adults and children.