Health implications of the oral and dermal exposure to heavy metals in borehole water from a poorly remediated Ikot Ada Udo community, Akwa Ibom State, South-South Nigeria

The health implications due to the exposure to heavy metals from boreholes were studied. Water samples (n = 24) were analyzed for lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), nickel (Ni), chromium (Cr), and iron (Fe) using an inductively coupled plasma optical emis-sion spectrometer (ICP OES, Varians-720-ES). The mean metals in boreholes were 0.085 +/- 0.070 mg/L (Pb), 0.437 +/- 0.142 (Cd), 0.034 +/- 0.026 (Ni), 0.056 +/- 0.028 (Cr), and 0.351 +/- 0.066 mg/L (Fe). The mean Pb, Cd, and Cr were above the WHO limits for drinking water. Children were more vulnerable to heavy metals. The oral exposure of adults to Cd (1.37 x 10 -2 mg/kg/day), children to Pb (1.02 x 10 -2 mg/kg/day) and Cr (6.72 x 10 -3 mg/kg/day), the dermal exposure of adults (6.51 x 10 -5 mg/kg/day) and chil-dren (1.92 x 10 -4 mg/kg/day) to Cd , the hazard quotient (HQ) from the oral exposure of adults to Cd (13.70 x 10 0 ), children to Pb (2.91 x 10 0 ) and Cr (2.24 x 10 0 ), the HQ from dermal exposure of adults (2.60 x 10 0 ) and children (7.68 x 10 0 ) to Cd, and the haz-ard index (HI) from the oral and dermal exposure of adults and children to heavy metals indicates impending health challenges. The carcinogenic risk (CR) of Pb (3.14 x 10-1), Ni (6.23 x 10 -4), and Cr (3.53 x 10 -3) in adults and those of Pb (1.20 x 10 0 ), Ni (2.40 x 10 -3), and Cr (1.34 x 10 -2) in children signifies the potential of having cancer within a 70-year lifespan. The potential health hazards to indigenes indicate the necessity for proper clean-up.(c) 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of African Institute of Mathematical Sciences / Next Einstein Initiative.This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ )