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Contamination level, source identification and health risk evaluation of potentially toxic elements (PTEs) in groundwater of an industrial city in eastern India

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Abstract

The present investigation explores the spatial and seasonal variations in potentially toxic element (PTEs) concentrations and contamination level assessment of groundwater samples in and around the Asansol industrial city, eastern India. The representative samples of groundwater from 24 different locations were analyzed for pH, electrical conductivity (EC), total dissolved solids (TDS), total hardness (TH) and PTEs, e.g., Pb, Cu, Cd, Zn, Fe and Cr for pre-monsoon and post-monsoon. The pH level of examined groundwater samples is under the desirable limit with few exceptions (S5, S11 and S16 in pre-monsoon and S12 in post-monsoon). The recorded values for Pb, Cd, Fe and Cr in many sampling stations found higher than the prescribed limits of Indian standards (IS 10500: 2012) in both the seasons. The mean contamination factor (Cf) for PTEs in the groundwater is in the order of Cr > Fe > Cd > Pb > Cu > Zn and Fe > Cr > Cd > Pb > Cu > Zn, with mean contamination index (Cd) value of 2.83 and 2.72 in pre-monsoon and post-monsoon season, respectively, indicating moderate level of contamination in the examined area. Geospatial depiction of HPI values shows high level of contamination during pre-monsoon (58.3% sampling sites) and post-monsoon (45.8% sampling sites) in majority of sampling sites. Further, application of multivariate statistical analysis ascertains that the PTEs in groundwater are majorly derived from anthropogenic activities such as opencast mining, thermal power plants, iron and steel industries, sponge iron and other metallurgical industries, and leachate from urban and industrial wastes along with limited contribution from geogenic and lithogenic sources. The health risk assessment demonstrates that the non-carcinogenic risk (due to PTEs) in adults is in the sequence of Cr > Cd > Pb > Fe > Cu > Zn, while for children the order is Cr > Pb > Cd > Fe > Cu > Zn for both the seasons. The results also reveal higher chance of occurrence of carcinogenic risk due to Cr (ILCR > 1.0E-04) for children and adults in both the seasons.

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Acknowledgements

The authors sincerely acknowledge the University Grants Commission (UGC), Government of India, for providing financial support Project No. F.P.S.W. 001/09-10(ERO) and Asansol Girls’ College, India, and Asansol Engineering College, West Bengal, India, for providing infrastructural support throughout this research work. Sincere thanks also due to the reviewers for their valuable suggestions to improve the quality of manuscript.

Funding

This research study was supported by University Grants Commission (UGC), Government of India, Project No. F.P.S.W. 001/09-10(ERO) dated: 08.10.2009.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, Asansol Engineering College, Asansol, 713305, India

    Gourisankar Panda & Krishnendu Kumar Pobi

  2. Department of Botany, Asansol Girls’ College, Asansol, West Bengal, 713305, India

    Supratik Gangopadhyay

  3. Department of Environmental Science, The University of Burdwan, Burdwan, West Bengal, 713104, India

    Manash Gope

  4. Department of Mining Engineering (Geomatics), Indian Institute of Technology (ISM), Dhanbad, Jharkhand, India

    Atul Kumar Rai

  5. Department of Environmental Science, AIES, Amity University, Kolkata, West Bengal, India

    Sumanta Nayek

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  1. Gourisankar Panda
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  4. Manash Gope
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Contributions

GP had contributed to conceptualization, methodology, validation, data curation, formal analysis, visualization and writing the original draft preparation. KKP was involved in methodology, formal analysis, software, investigation and writing the original draft preparation. SG and MG took part in software, formal analysis. reviewing and editing. AKR conducted the application of GIS software, formal analysis, and data interpretation and representation. SN carried out supervision, visualization, investigation, validation, reviewing and editing.

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Correspondence to Sumanta Nayek.

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Panda, G., Pobi, K.K., Gangopadhyay, S. et al. Contamination level, source identification and health risk evaluation of potentially toxic elements (PTEs) in groundwater of an industrial city in eastern India. Environ Geochem Health 44, 2685–2709 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-021-01071-1

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