Geospatial Distribution and Potential Noncarcinogenic Health Risk Assessment of Nitrate Contaminated Groundwater in Sout
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Geospatial Distribution and Potential Noncarcinogenic Health Risk Assessment of Nitrate Contaminated Groundwater in Southern India: A Case Study Narsimha Adimalla1,2 · Hui Qian1,2 Received: 28 June 2020 / Accepted: 16 September 2020 © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract Groundwater nitrate pollution is a serious threat to human health in many regions of the world. The present study was performed to assess the nitrate contamination in groundwater in the region of Nirmal province, South India, where people purely depend on groundwater for drinking purposes. The associated human health risks for different age groups (male, female, and children) also were evaluated based on the United States Environmental Protection Agency model. Results indicate that nitrate concentration in groundwater is in the range of 0.8–130 mg/L with a mean of 36.51 mg/L. Furthermore, 26.47% of groundwater samples exceeded the WHO drinking water guidelines for NO3− in the study region. The contribution of oral ingestion is very higher than the dermal contact in the total hazard quotient or noncarcinogenic health risk. The total hazard quotient values ranged from 0.02 to 3.13 for adult males, 0.02 to 3.70 for adult females, and 0.03 to 4.32 for children. The health risk assessment highlights that children are more exposed to the noncarcinogenic health risks of nitrate than adult females and males in the study region. Therefore, specific groundwater quality measures should be formulated to address the health risk problems for children in the study region. Nitrate contamination in groundwater has pervaded many parts of the world, and it is probably the most widespread problem, especially in developing countries (Adimalla and Qian 2019a, 2021; Chen et al. 2017a; Wick et al. 2012). Typically, accumulation of nitrate in groundwater can largely be found from both sources, such as natural and anthropogenic origin. However, the concentration of nitrate in naturally occurring groundwater does not exceed 10 mg/L (Pawar and Shaikh 1995; Young 1983). It is accepted that the elevated concentrations (> 10 mg/L) of nitrate in groundwater are primarily increased by anthropogenic activities, including nitrogen fertilizers or manure used in agriculture (Fan 2011; Jalali 2011; Sugimoto et al. 2009; Wei et al. 2017). Fertilizers containing ammonium or nitrate, such as ammonium chloride (NH4Cl), ammonium sulfate [(NH4)2SO4], calcium * Narsimha Adimalla [email protected] 1
School of Water and Environment, Chang’an University, No. 126 Yanta Road, Xi’an 710054, Shaanxi, China
Key Laboratory of Subsurface Hydrology and Ecological Effects in Arid Region of the Ministry of Education, Chang’an University, No. 126 Yanta Road, Xi’an 710054, Shaanxi, China
2
nitrate [Ca(NO3)2], and ammonium nitrate ( NH4NO3), are major contributors to nitrate pollution. Ammoniacal forms of nitrogen are transformed to nitrate through the microbially mediated nitrification process, which is summarized in Fig. 1. NH4+ ions can be ab
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