title: Heavy metals in drinking water: Occurrences, implications, and future needs in developing countries.
abstract: Heavy metals in drinking water pose a threat to human health. Populations are exposed to heavy metals primarily through water consumption, but few heavy metals can bioaccumulate in the human body (e.g., in lipids and the gastrointestinal system) and may induce cancer and other risks. To date, few thousand publications have reported various aspects of heavy metals in drinking water, including the types and quantities of metals in drinking water, their sources, factors affecting their concentrations at exposure points, human exposure, potential risks, and their removal from drinking water. Many developing countries are faced with the challenge of reducing human exposure to heavy metals, mainly due to their limited economic capacities to use advanced technologies for heavy metal removal. This paper aims to review the state of research on heavy metals in drinking water in developing countries; understand their types and variability, sources, exposure, possible health effects, and removal; and analyze the factors contributing to heavy metals in drinking water. This study identifies the current challenges in developing countries, and future research needs to reduce the levels of heavy metals in drinking water.
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran 31261, Saudi Arabia. Electronic address: Schowdhury@kfupm.edu.sa.
authors.forename: Shakhawat
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chowdhury
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran 31261, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: M A Jafar
authors.initials: MAJ
authors.lastname: Mazumder
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran 31261, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Omar
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Al-Attas
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, NL, Canada.
authors.forename: Tahir
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Husain
mesh_terms: D003906:Developing Countries; D060766:Drinking Water / Q000032:analysis*; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000032:analysis*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D006801:Humans; D019216:Metals, Heavy / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000032:analysis; D018570:Risk Assessment; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000032:analysis; D018508:Water Purification
chemical_list: D060766:Drinking Water; D019216:Metals, Heavy; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
keywords: Heavy metals in drinking water; challenges in developing countries; heavy metal removal; human exposure and risk; sources of metals