Zahra Aeliya, Ali Mohsin, Ali Nida, Khan Adnan, Zairov Rustem, Sinyashin Oleg, Wang Yan, Zafar Shaista, Khan Farooq-Ahmad
Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Karachi, Karachi 75270, Pakistan.
Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Karachi, Karachi 75270, Pakistan; Alexander Butlerov Institute of Chemistry, Kazan Federal University, 18 Kremlevskaya Street, Kazan 420008, Russian Federation.
J Hazard Mater. 2025 Apr 5;487:137093. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2025.137093. Epub 2025 Jan 3.
Groundwater contamination is a growing global concern. The objective of the present study is to assess the groundwater quality of Khairpur district, Sindh, Pakistan-a region which is emblematic of broad environmental and public health challenges prevalent in South Asian countries. The study also aims to comprehend the impact of arsenic (As), fluoride (F), and nitrate (NO) dynamics and its health implications. Additionally, this work is vital in shaping the policies of higher authorities to take actions regarding public health. The American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) methods and modern analytical techniques, such as Inductively Coupled Plasma - Optical Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-OES), Ion Chromatography (IC), and UV-Vis Spectrophotometry were employed to analyze a series of groundwater samples (n = 50), taken from various locations of Khairpur district. Present study reveals a high occurrence of arsenic (As) with mean concentrations of 26.05 µg/L, and low occurrence of fluoride (0.12-0.59 mg/L) in majority of samples (68 %), hence not according to the safe drinking limits of World Health Organization (WHO). The occurrence of low nitrate (range: 0.53-22.63; mean: 3.36 mg/L) and high nitrite (range: 10.23-30.3; mean: 20.48 mg/L) in 90 and 98 % of total samples respectively suggests that an active reduction process is taking place in the study area. A link was identified between numerous anthropogenic and natural geochemical processes, including As, F, and NO contamination, which are contributing towards this groundwater pollution and significantly affecting the health of pediatric population in terms of skin manifestations like skin irritation, melanosis and keratosis which are early symptoms of skin cancer. Findings of present study emphasizes. Findings of the present study emphasizes an urgent need for remedial measures to mitigate the identified risk and call for a comprehensive plan to monitor and improve the quality of groundwater, in order to ensure the safety and well-being of the vulnerable communities. Our work also highlights the urgent need for environmental health awareness and policy reforms to prevent the long-term health repercussions from compromised groundwater quality.
地下水污染是一个日益严重的全球问题。本研究的目的是评估巴基斯坦信德省海得布尔地区的地下水质量，该地区是南亚国家普遍存在的广泛环境和公共卫生挑战的典型代表。该研究还旨在了解砷（As）、氟化物（F）和硝酸盐（NO）动态的影响及其对健康的影响。此外，这项工作对于制定上级当局关于公共卫生的行动政策至关重要。采用美国材料与试验协会（ASTM）方法以及现代分析技术，如电感耦合等离子体发射光谱法（ICP-OES）、离子色谱法（IC）和紫外可见分光光度法，对从海得布尔地区不同地点采集的一系列地下水样本（n = 50）进行分析。本研究表明，大多数样本（68%）中砷（As）的含量较高，平均浓度为26.05μg/L，而氟化物含量较低（0.12 - 0.59mg/L），因此不符合世界卫生组织（WHO）的安全饮用水限值。分别有90%和98%的总样本中硝酸盐含量较低（范围：0.53 - 22.63；平均值：3.36mg/L）和亚硝酸盐含量较高（范围：10.23 - 30.3；平均值：20.48mg/L），这表明研究区域正在发生活跃的还原过程。研究发现，包括砷、氟和硝酸盐污染在内的众多人为和自然地球化学过程之间存在联系，这些过程导致了这种地下水污染，并在皮肤刺激、黑变病和角化病等皮肤表现方面对儿童群体的健康产生了重大影响，而这些都是皮肤癌的早期症状。本研究结果强调。本研究结果强调迫切需要采取补救措施来降低已识别的风险，并呼吁制定一项全面计划来监测和改善地下水质量，以确保脆弱社区的安全和福祉。我们的工作还突出了迫切需要提高环境卫生意识和进行政策改革，以防止地下水质量受损带来的长期健康影响。
