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Quantification of health risks and spatial distribution of heavy metals in groundwater of Lower Himalayas, India

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Abstract

In this systematic research work, fifty-four groundwater samples of Solan and Shimla districts of Himachal Pradesh, India, have been analysed for heavy metals like As, Cd, Cr, Co, Cu, Ni and Pb using atomic absorption spectrophotometer as well as physico-chemical parameters like pH, redox potential, electrical conductivity and total dissolved salts (TDS). Most of the water samples were found to be alkaline. Based on their TDS values, 53 groundwater samples were considered 'fresh' and 'desirable for drinking'. The investigated groundwater samples were found to be heavily contaminated with As, Co, Cr, Ni and Pb, as their average values of 84.3, 106.7, 101.4, 84.1 and 131.9 ppb, respectively, far exceeded the guideline values recommended by World Health Organization and United States Environment Protection Agency. Doses due to ingestion via drinking water pathway and dermal absorption were computed for two different age groups of child and adult. The non-carcinogenic risk expressed in terms of target hazard quotient was found to be greater than unity for As, Co, Cr and Pb. The average carcinogenic risk of As and Cr calculated as 1.56 × 10–3 and 2.38 × 10–2, respectively, crossed the acceptable range of 10–6–10–4. It may thus be concluded that the residents of the study region have high probability of develo** adverse health effects from heavy metal exposure.

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Acknowledgements

The authors express their sincere gratitude to Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, for providing fellowship under DST-INSPIRE scheme IF160030. The authors are also thankful to Director, Dr. B R Ambedkar National Institute of Technology, Jalandhar for providing state-of-the-art facilities in laboratory and the residents of the study area for their kind co-operation during field work.

Funding

The study was funded by Department of Science and Technology, Government of India under DST-INSPIRE scheme IF160030.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Radiation Monitoring and Assessment Laboratory, Department of Physics, Dr. B R Ambedkar National Institute of Technology, Jalandhar, Punjab, 144011, India

    S. Kaur & R. Mehra

  2. Divecha Centre for Climate Change, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, Karnataka, 560012, India

    M. R. Kumar

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Contributions

All the authors contributed to the study conceptualization and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by Sarabjot Kaur. The first draft was prepared by Sarabjot and M. Rajesh. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to R. Mehra.

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This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.

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Editorial responsibility: Samareh Mirkia.

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Kaur, S., Mehra, R. & Kumar, M.R. Quantification of health risks and spatial distribution of heavy metals in groundwater of Lower Himalayas, India. Int. J. Environ. Sci. Technol. 19, 3201–3218 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-021-03258-6

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