Open AccessSurface and Groundwater Pollution: the Invisible, Creeping Threat to Human Health
Author(s) -
Hammad Ahmed Shah,
Muhammad Sheraz,
Afed Ullah Khan,
Fayaz Ahmad Khan,
Liaqat Ali Shah,
Jehanzeb Khan,
A Wadud Khan,
Zahoor Khan
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
civil and environmental engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.251
H-Index - 3
eISSN - 2199-6512
pISSN - 1336-5835
DOI - 10.2478/cee-2020-0016
Subject(s) - pollution , surface water , environmental science , hazard quotient , pollutant , groundwater , nonpoint source pollution , water quality , ingestion , wastewater , environmental health , water resource management , toxicology , environmental engineering , human health , ecology , chemistry , biology , medicine , geology , biochemistry , geotechnical engineering
This study reports pollution source apportionment of surface waters and human health risk assessment based on 18 physicochemical and traces elements from 24 water quality monitoring sites for surface and groundwater around the two trans-boundary rivers of Pakistan: The Ravi and Sutlej. The principal component analysis identified 6 principal components (76.98 % cumulative variance) which are mainly caused by untreated industrial effluents, intense agricultural activities, and irrigation tailwater discharges. For all dissolved trace elements in surface waters, health hazard indices (HI) and hazard quotients (HQ) through ingestion and dermal contact are 1, indicating that As, Mn, Fe, and Cu are the most important pollutants causing chronic risks among the selected trace elements in both shallow and deep groundwater respectively. HQingestion, HQdermal, and HI values are higher for children than that of adults which shows the high susceptibility of children to these dissolved trace elements. The carcinogenic indices for the entire surface water elements exceed 10 −6 through dermal and ingestion pathways suggesting carcinogenic health risk to the surrounding community. Hence, to protect human health, wastewater treatment plants and best management practices should be practiced to control point source and nonpoint source pollution respectively in the understudied area.