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Sources of Arsenic in Groundwater and its Health Significance - A Review


Affiliations
1 Deptt. of Environmental Engineering, Sri Jayachamarajendra College of Engineering, Mysore, Karnataka 570 006, India
 

Arsenic is present in earth's crust and occurs in more than 200 natural minerals. Under favourable environmental conditions, arsenic enters into the groundwater. Groundwater has been the major source of arsenic exposure to human population around the world. The incidence of arsenic in drinking water, above the standard limit (0.05mg/L as per IS: 10500) has emerged as a major public health problem. Water constituting arsenic above 10μg/L is a major concern. Arsenic has reference dose or reference value of 3E-4 mg.kg-1.d-1 as an estimate of a daily exposure to the human population that is likely to be without an appreciable risk of deleterious effects during a lifetime. Lesions manifest at exposure levels of about 0.002-0.02 mg As kg-1.d-1. The trivalent form of arsenic is considered to be 60 times more toxic than pentavalent form. This communication contemplates on presenting the sources of arsenic, and the influencing factors that facilitate arsenic to groundwater, health implications and present regulation on drinking water standards. From the review, it is clear that the consumption of arsenic contaminated water can cause a wide range of acute and chronic diseases in humans. The source of arsenic for groundwater is mainly geogenic in nature. Therefore, if the groundwater is selected as the source of water, routine monitoring for arsenic becomes a vital step before it is conveyed to the end users for drinking or irrigation or industrial purposes.

Keywords

Arsenic, Groundwater, Health Implication, Reference Dose.
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  • Sources of Arsenic in Groundwater and its Health Significance - A Review

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Authors

M. Madhukar
Deptt. of Environmental Engineering, Sri Jayachamarajendra College of Engineering, Mysore, Karnataka 570 006, India
B. M. Sadashiva Murthy
Deptt. of Environmental Engineering, Sri Jayachamarajendra College of Engineering, Mysore, Karnataka 570 006, India
T. H. Udayashankara
Deptt. of Environmental Engineering, Sri Jayachamarajendra College of Engineering, Mysore, Karnataka 570 006, India

Abstract


Arsenic is present in earth's crust and occurs in more than 200 natural minerals. Under favourable environmental conditions, arsenic enters into the groundwater. Groundwater has been the major source of arsenic exposure to human population around the world. The incidence of arsenic in drinking water, above the standard limit (0.05mg/L as per IS: 10500) has emerged as a major public health problem. Water constituting arsenic above 10μg/L is a major concern. Arsenic has reference dose or reference value of 3E-4 mg.kg-1.d-1 as an estimate of a daily exposure to the human population that is likely to be without an appreciable risk of deleterious effects during a lifetime. Lesions manifest at exposure levels of about 0.002-0.02 mg As kg-1.d-1. The trivalent form of arsenic is considered to be 60 times more toxic than pentavalent form. This communication contemplates on presenting the sources of arsenic, and the influencing factors that facilitate arsenic to groundwater, health implications and present regulation on drinking water standards. From the review, it is clear that the consumption of arsenic contaminated water can cause a wide range of acute and chronic diseases in humans. The source of arsenic for groundwater is mainly geogenic in nature. Therefore, if the groundwater is selected as the source of water, routine monitoring for arsenic becomes a vital step before it is conveyed to the end users for drinking or irrigation or industrial purposes.

Keywords


Arsenic, Groundwater, Health Implication, Reference Dose.

References