Emerging Contaminants (Jan 2022)
Exposure risk of groundwater arsenic contamination from Huaihe River Plain, China
Abstract
Arsenic poses a danger to public health and drinking arsenic-rich groundwater is the main route for human exposure to this element. The focus of this study is to assess the risk magnitude and likelihood for arsenic-rich groundwater in Huaihe River Plain, China using Risk Magnitude and Indicator Kriging methods. It has been found that 481 in 5515 investigated samples exceed the drinking water standards of the World Health Organization, which present a high exposure risk for public health. Arsenic concentrations range from 0.001 to 356.00 μg/L, with a median of 2.10 μg/L. The proportion of contaminated shallow groundwater samples is 9.77%, and the counterpart from deep layer is 2.85%, respectively. Arsenic concentrations are obviously higher in plain areas than those in hilly areas. High Risk Magnitude and Very High Risk Magnitude samples are sporadically positioned in inland and coastal plain. According to the prediction of Risk Probability maps over shallow and deep groundwater, high arsenic Risk Probability areas is scattered in the inland and coastal portion, and both Risk Probability peaks are similar. Some high arsenic hazard areas have been found to possess high cancer rates, and high Risk Probability peaks are correlated with cancer cluster. The potential high arsenic hazard areas over shallow groundwater encompass more than 4709 km2, while the counterpart over deep groundwater is 1446 km2. 2.88 million people are estimated to be potentially exposed to High Risk Probability of arsenic. This paper carried out research on exposure risk of arsenic contamination from Huaihe River Plain, China, which may provide guidance for regionalization of drinking groundwater safety.
