Simultaneously evaluate the toxic levels of fluoride and arsenic species in underground water of Tharparkar and possible contaminant sources: a multivariate study.
The present study investigated total arsenic (tAs), inorganic arsenic (iAs) species and fluoride ion (F(-)) contamination in underground water of Mithi and Nangarparkar subdistricts of Tharparkar, Pakistan. Statistical parameters, principal component analysis, cluster analysis, sodium absorption ratio and saturation indices (SI) were used to detect interrelation and sources of concentration of tAs, iAs species (As(3+) and As(5+)), F(-) and others physicochemical parameters. The concentration of As(3+) was measured by cloud point extraction using ammonium pyrrolidinedithiocarbamate (APDC) as complexing reagent, while inorganic arsenic (iAs) was determined by solid phase extraction, using titanium dioxide. The positive correlation was observed between F(-) contents with As species and other major ions, found in the underground water of the study area. The resulted data indicated that underground water samples of two areas of Tharparkar were severely contaminated with arsenic (0.100-3.83 mg/L) and fluoride ion (13.8-49.3mg/L), which were exceeded the World Health Organization provisional guideline values, 0.01 mg/L and 1.5mg/L, respectively. The SI of fluorite and calcite in the underground water samples showed that most of the samples were oversaturated with respect to calcite and fluorite.
National Center of Excellence in Analytical Chemistry, University of Sindh, Jamshoro 76080, Pakistan. kr_brahman@yahoo.com
Kapil Dev
KD
Brahman
Tasneem Gul
TG
Kazi
Hassan Imran
HI
Afridi
Shahid
S
Naseem
Sadia Sadaf
SS
Arain
Sham Kumar
SK
Wadhwa
Faheem
F
Shah
D001151:Arsenic / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005459:Fluorides / Q000032:analysis*; D060587:Groundwater / Q000737:chemistry*; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D010154:Pakistan; D052616:Solid Phase Extraction; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry
D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D001151:Arsenic; D005459:Fluorides