Biological toxicity of groundwater in a seashore area: causal analysis and its spatial pollutant pattern.
To ensure the safety of groundwater usage in a seashore area where seawater incursion and unexpected leakage are taking place, this paper utilizes the Microtox test to quantify the biological toxicity of groundwater and proposes an integrated data analysis procedure based on hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) and principal component analysis (PCA) for determining the key environmental factors that may result in the biological toxicity, together with the spatial risk pattern associated with groundwater usage. For these reasons, this study selects the coastal area of Taichung city in Central Taiwan as an example and implements a monitoring program with 40 samples. The results indicate that the concentration of total arsenic in the coastal areas is about 0.23-270.4 μg L(-1), which is obviously higher than the interior of Taichung city. Moreover, the seawater incursion and organic pollution in the study area may be the key factors resulting in the incubation of toxic substances. The results also indicate that As(3+) is the main contributor to biological toxicity compared to other disinfection by-products. With the help of the visualized spatial pollutants pattern of groundwater, an advanced water quality control plan can be made.
Department of Safety, Health and Environmental Engineering, Hungkuang University, No. 1018, Sec. 6, Taiwan Boulevard, Shalu District, Taichung City 43302, Taiwan, ROC.
Winn-Jung
WJ
Huang
Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tunghai University, No. 1727, Sec. 4, Taiwan Boulevard, Xitun District, Taichung City 40704, Taiwan, ROC.
Wei-Yea
WY
Chen
Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tunghai University, No. 1727, Sec. 4, Taiwan Boulevard, Xitun District, Taichung City 40704, Taiwan, ROC.
Yen-Hsun
YH
Chuang
Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tunghai University, No. 1727, Sec. 4, Taiwan Boulevard, Xitun District, Taichung City 40704, Taiwan, ROC.
Yu-Hao
YH
Lin
Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tunghai University, No. 1727, Sec. 4, Taiwan Boulevard, Xitun District, Taichung City 40704, Taiwan, ROC. Electronic address: hwchen@thu.edu.tw.
Ho-Wen
HW
Chen
D001151:Arsenic / Q000032:analysis / Q000633:toxicity; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D054750:Ecotoxicology / Q000379:methods*; D060587:Groundwater / Q000737:chemistry*; D009792:Oceans and Seas; D025341:Principal Component Analysis; D013624:Taiwan; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis* / Q000633:toxicity*; D060753:Water Quality; D014881:Water Supply
D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D001151:Arsenic
Biological toxicity; Data mining; Groundwater safety; Spatial statistics