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Original Article | Open Access

Health risk assessment of heavy metal pollution in groundwater of a karst basin, SW China

Fu-ning Lan1,2Yi Zhao1,2Jun Li3( )Xiu-qun Zhu4
Karst Ecosystem, National Observation and Research Station, Pingguo 531406, Guangxi, China
Institute of Karst Geology, International Research Centre on Karst, Under the Auspices of UNESCO, Guangxi Karst Resources and Environment Research Center of Engineering Technology, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Karst Dynamics Laboratory, MNR and Guangxi, Guilin 541004, China
Hebei Key Laboratory of Water Quality Engineering and Comprehensive Utilization of Water Resources, Hebei University of Architecture, Zhangjiakou 075000, Hebei Province, China
College of Hydrology and Water Resources, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China
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Abstract

To investigate the presence of metal elements and assess their health risk for the populace in the Nandong Underground River Basin (NURB), we conducted an analysis of eleven common heavy metals in the water body. A Health risk assessment (HRA) model was employed to analyze 84 water samples from the NURB. The detection results revealed the following order of heavy metals concentrations: Fe > Al > Mn > Zn > As > Cd > Pb > Cr > Ni > Cu > Hg. Correlation analysis indicated a certain similarity in material source and migration transformation among these eleven metal elements. Our study identified that the health risks for local residents exposed to metal elements in the water of NURB primarily stem from carcinogenic risk (10−6–10−4 a−1) through the drinking water pathway. Moreover, the health risk of heavy metal exposure for children through drinking water was notably higher than for adults. The maximum health risks of Cr in both underground and surface water exceeded the recommendation standard (5.0×10−5 a−1) from ICRP, surpassing the values recommended by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, the Dutch Ministry of Construction and Environment and the British Royal Society (5.0×10−6 a−1). The results of the health risk assessment indicate that Cr in the water of NURB is the primary source of carcinogenic risk for local residents, followed by Cd and As. Consequently, it is imperative to control these three carcinogenic metals when the water was used as drinking water resource.

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Journal of Groundwater Science and Engineering
Pages 49-61
Cite this article:
Lan F-n, Zhao Y, Li J, et al. Health risk assessment of heavy metal pollution in groundwater of a karst basin, SW China. Journal of Groundwater Science and Engineering, 2024, 12(1): 49-61. https://doi.org/10.26599/JGSE.2024.9280005

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Received: 26 September 2023
Accepted: 18 December 2023
Published: 15 March 2024
2305-7068/© 2024 Journal of Groundwater Science and Engineering Editorial Office

This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0)

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