The surveillance of arsenic levels in the drinking water of primary schools and the assessment of the potential cancer-related health risks of children in Multan, Pakistan

Abstract

To investigate the levels of arsenic (As) in the groundwater and drinking water of primary schools and their potential impact on human health is main objective of this study. To assess risk, the following parameters i.e., carcinogenic indices (CI), hazardous indexes (HI), carcinogenic risk (CR), and hazardous quotient (HQ) have been measured for both dermal and oral arsenic exposure. This study has been focused on primary schools located in four tehsils of Multan, where water samples were collected. Arsenic levels, with concentrations ranging from 3.31 to 191 mg/l, exceeding the safe limit set by the World Health Organization (WHO) have been detected in 99.9% of the samples. The results show that arsenic content ranged from 3.31 to 191 mg/l, with 99.9% of the samples exceeding the World Health Organization's safe limit of 10 mg/l. The CR and CI exceeded the USEPA limit of 10–6 in all four tehsils ranged from 2.6 × 10-6 to 9.4 × 10-6 and 0.00023 to 0.0009 respectively in both dermal and oral cases. , Multan Sadar (1.51, 1.39) and Multan City (1.76, 1.71) exhibited HI and HQ values that surpassed the threshold of 1.0, signaling a significant likelihood of chronic and cancer-causing health consequences for individuals who are exposed to polluted water causing health. The findings suggest that the groundwater in the Multan district poses a significant health risk to humans due to high levels of arsenic contamination. This contamination is associated with an increased risk of mortality from internal cancers (including liver, kidney, lung, and bladder), as well as a higher HI & CI incidence of skin cancer. Furthermore, pregnancy outcomes are affected, with associations found between arsenic exposure and lower birth weight, and infant mortality. The researchers propose that water supply organizations and educational institutions promptly take measures to ensure that the affected areas have access to arsenic-free drinking water for the well-being of students and residents.