Work

Health risk assessment upon exposure to groundwater arsenic among individuals of different sex and age groups of Vaishali district, Bihar (India)

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Availability of safe drinking water is one of the requirements for maintaining good health. Unfortunately, inhabitants of many nations suffer from adverse health effects due to the intake of arsenic-contaminated groundwater. The Vaishali district of Bihar (India) is the part of Ganga River Basin, a hotspot of arsenic contamination and hence, risk assessment among its individuals is highly pertinent. This study aimed to evaluate the extent of arsenic contamination in the ground waters of Bidupur block under Vaishali district, followed by an assessment of health risk, both non-cancer and cancer, within the arsenic-exposed adult females, adult males and children. Estimation of groundwater arsenic was done in 68 duplicate samples through an MQuant test kit (Merck, Germany). For this, Microsoft Office Excel and ArcGIS software were used as a tool. The results showed that only one-fourth of the groundwater samples exceeded the WHO permissible limit of arsenic with a high contamination factor. The total hazard index (HI), representing the non-cancer risk, was found above the threshold value (>1) among all individuals, which was high among the adults, more in adult females (3.21) than adult males (2.97), and low among the children (2.02). The cancer risk, expressed in terms of cancer index (CI), was also beyond the acceptable limit (10 −4 to 10 −6 ) among all sex and age groups, ranging from 0.91 × 10 −3 to 1.45 × 10 −3 . Conclusively, arsenic was found to pose both high non-cancer and cancer risks in the population even at its low level due to long-term exposure. • Health risk of individuals exposed to groundwater arsenic was assessed in Vaishali district, of Bihar (India). • Only one-fourth of groundwater samples contained arsenic beyond its permissible limit. • Non-cancer risk as well as cancer risk were above the acceptable limit among all individuals. • Risk was high among adult females than adult males and low among children. • Arsenic was posing high health risk even at its low level due to long-term exposure.

Source: Toxicology Reports

DOI: 10.1016/j.toxrep.2025.102024

Authors: Pankaj Kumar, Parimal Kumar Khan, Amod Kumar

Institutions: Patna University, University of Delhi

Language: English

Topic: Arsenic contamination and mitigation

Subfield: Environmental Chemistry

Field: Environmental Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDGs: Good health and well-being, Clean water and sanitation

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $2,530