Health Risk Assessment Due to Groundwater Arsenic Contamination: Children Are at High Risk

Health risk assessment due to groundwater As contamination was conducted in two As-prone panchayats, Rampur Diara (RD) and Haldichapra (HC) of the Maner block of the Patna district, Bihar (India). All 100% of the water samples surveyed were found to be contaminated with As with a mean value of 52 mu g/L (n = 10) in RD and 231 mu g/L (n = 10) in HC, both exceeding the World Health Organization (WHO) guideline of 10 mu g/L and the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) standard of 50 mu g/L, respectively. The average calculated per capita consumption of As through drinking water in RD ranged from 120 mu g/day for 5-10-year-old children to 320 mu g/day for adults older than 41 years, while in HC the average calculated As through consumption ranged from 580 mu g/day for 5-10-year-old children to 1470 mu g/day for adults older than 41 years. Hazard quotients were calculated to be between 12.1 to 41.6 for the RD population and 58.3 to 192.5 for the HC population, both exceeding the typical toxic risk index 1. In addition, cancer risk of 19 per 1000 was found for RD children and 87 per 1000 for HC children. Visible symptoms of Arsenicosis were also observed in the area.