title: Unraveling Health Risk and Speciation of Arsenic from Groundwater in Rural Areas of Punjab, Pakistan.
abstract: This study determined the total and speciated arsenic (As) concentrations and other health-related water quality parameters for unraveling the health risk of As from drinking water to humans. Groundwater samples (n = 62) were collected from three previously unexplored rural areas (Chichawatni, Vehari, Rahim Yar Khan) of Punjab in Pakistan. The mean and median As concentrations in groundwater were 37.9 and 12.7 µg·L(-1) (range = 1.5-201 µg·L(-1)). Fifty three percent groundwater samples showed higher As value than WHO safe limit of 10 µg·L(-1). Speciation of As in groundwater samples (n = 13) showed the presence of inorganic As only; arsenite (As(III)) constituted 13%-67% of total As and arsenate (As(V)) ranged from 33% to 100%. For As health risk assessment, the hazard quotient and cancer risk values were 11-18 and 46-600 times higher than the recommended values of US-EPA (i.e., 1.00 and 10(-6), respectively). In addition to As, various water quality parameters (e.g., electrical conductivity, Na, Ca, Cl(-), NO₃(-), SO₄(2-), Fe, Mn, Pb) also enhanced the health risk. The results show that consumption of As-contaminated groundwater poses an emerging health threat to the communities in the study area, and hence needs urgent remedial and management measures.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Soil and Environmental Sciences, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Faisalabad 38040, Pakistan. bilalshakoor88@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Muhammad Bilal
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Shakoor
authors.affiliation: Institute of Soil and Environmental Sciences, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Faisalabad 38040, Pakistan. nabeelkniazi@gmail.com.|Southern Cross GeoScience, Southern Cross University, Lismore 2480, NSW, Australia. nabeelkniazi@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Nabeel Khan
authors.initials: NK
authors.lastname: Niazi
authors.affiliation: Institute of Soil and Environmental Sciences, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Faisalabad 38040, Pakistan. irshad.niazi81@gmail.com.|Southern Cross GeoScience, Southern Cross University, Lismore 2480, NSW, Australia. irshad.niazi81@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Irshad
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Bibi
authors.affiliation: Centre for Environmental Risk Assessment and Remediation (CERAR), Mawson Lakes Campus, University of South Australia, SA 5095, Australia. mohammad.rahman@unisa.edu.au.|Global Centre for Environmental Remediation (GCER), Faculty of Science and Information Technology, The University of Newcastle, University Drive, Callaghan, NSW 2308, Australia. mohammad.rahman@unisa.edu.au.|Cooperative Research Centre for Contamination Assessment and Remediation of the Environment (CRC CARE), P.O. Box 486, Salisbury South, SA 5106, Australia. mohammad.rahman@unisa.edu.au.
authors.forename: Mohammad Mahmudur
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Rahman
authors.affiliation: Global Centre for Environmental Remediation (GCER), Faculty of Science and Information Technology, The University of Newcastle, University Drive, Callaghan, NSW 2308, Australia. ravi.naidu@newcastle.edu.au.|Cooperative Research Centre for Contamination Assessment and Remediation of the Environment (CRC CARE), P.O. Box 486, Salisbury South, SA 5106, Australia. ravi.naidu@newcastle.edu.au.
authors.forename: Ravi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Naidu
authors.affiliation: Global Centre for Environmental Remediation (GCER), Faculty of Science and Information Technology, The University of Newcastle, University Drive, Callaghan, NSW 2308, Australia. morrow.dong@newcastle.edu.au.|Cooperative Research Centre for Contamination Assessment and Remediation of the Environment (CRC CARE), P.O. Box 486, Salisbury South, SA 5106, Australia. morrow.dong@newcastle.edu.au.
authors.forename: Zhaomin
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Sciences, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Vehari 61100, Pakistan. muhammadshahid@ciitvehari.edu.pk.
authors.forename: Muhammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shahid
authors.affiliation: Institute of Soil and Environmental Sciences, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Faisalabad 38040, Pakistan. arshad_ises@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Muhammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Arshad
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001151:Arsenic / Q000032:analysis*; D060766:Drinking Water / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female; D060587:Groundwater / Q000032:analysis*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010154:Pakistan; D018570:Risk Assessment; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*; D060753:Water Quality
chemical_list: D060766:Drinking Water; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D001151:Arsenic
keywords: arsenic; cancer; contamination; groundwater; health risk; speciation; toxicity