High Mobility of Aluminium in Gomati River Basin: Implications to Human Health

Aluminium (Al), an environmentally abundant and immobile element, has been studied for its mobility in the Gomati River Basin, a part of the Ganga Alluvial Plain, northern India. The dissolved Al concentrations in the Gomati River water and the Lucknow groundwater range over three orders of magnitude, from 14 to 77,861 ppb. In the Gomati River water, Al is classified as a moderately mobile element. Nearly 19% of Lucknow groundwater samples and all the Gomati River water samples have Al values above the permissible limit (200 ppb) recommended by the World Health Organization. Systematic multi-disciplinary study is urgently required to understand the geological association of high Al mobility with human health in the Ganga Alluvial Plain, one of the densely populated regions of the world.