title: Groundwater quality in Ghaziabad district, Uttar Pradesh, India: Multivariate and health risk assessment.
abstract: This study aimed to assess the quality of groundwater and potential health risk due to ingestion of heavy metals in the peri-urban and urban-industrial clusters of Ghaziabad district, Uttar Pradesh, India. Furthermore, the study aimed to evaluate heavy metals sources and their pollution level using multivariate analysis and fuzzy comprehensive assessment (FCA), respectively. Multivariate analysis using principle component analysis (PCA) showed mixed origin for Pb, Cd, Zn, Fe, and Ni, natural source for Cu and Mn and anthropogenic source for Cr. Among all the metals, Pb, Cd, Fe and Ni were above the safe limits of Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) and World Health Organization (WHO) except Ni. Health risk in terms of hazard quotient (HQ) showed that the HQ values for children were higher than the safe level (HQ = 1) for Pb (2.4) and Cd (2.1) in pre-monsoon while in post-monsoon the value exceeded only for Pb (HQ = 1.23). The health risks of heavy metals for the adults were well within safe limits. The finding of this study indicates potential health risks to the children due to chronic exposure to contaminated groundwater in the region. Based on FCA, groundwater pollution could be categorized as quite high in the peri-urban region, and absolutely high in the urban region of Ghaziabad district. This study showed that different approaches are required for the integrated assessment of the groundwater pollution, and provides a scientific basis for the strategic future planning and comprehensive management.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Biology and Wildlife Sciences, Cotton College State University, Guwahati, Assam 781001, India; Environmental Engineering Laboratory, Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Hauz Khas, New Delhi 110 016, India. Electronic address: mayuri_chabukdhara@yahoo.co.in.
authors.forename: Mayuri
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chabukdhara
authors.affiliation: Environmental Engineering Laboratory, Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Hauz Khas, New Delhi 110 016, India.
authors.forename: Sanjay Kumar
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.affiliation: Environmental Engineering Laboratory, Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Hauz Khas, New Delhi 110 016, India.
authors.forename: Yatharth
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kotecha
authors.affiliation: Environmental Engineering Laboratory, Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Hauz Khas, New Delhi 110 016, India.
authors.forename: Arvind K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Nema
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D060587:Groundwater / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D007220:Industrial Waste / Q000032:analysis; D019216:Metals, Heavy / Q000032:analysis* / Q000633:toxicity; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D007220:Industrial Waste; D019216:Metals, Heavy; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
keywords: Fuzzy comprehensive assessment; Groundwater; Hazard quotient; Heavy metals; Multivariate analysis