Extent of anthropogenic influence on groundwater quality and human health-related risks: an integrated assessment based on selected physicochemical characteristics

作者：Johnbosco C. Egbueri, Johnson C. Agbasi, Daniel A. Ayejoto, Mohammad Imran Khan, Mohd Yawar Ali Khan · 发表于：Geocarto International · 年份：2023 · DOI：10.1080/10106049.2023.2210100 · 被引用次数：125 · 研究领域：Groundwater and Isotope Geochemistry、Water Quality and Pollution Assessment、Groundwater and Watershed Analysis

The majority of people living on earth rely on groundwater as their primary supply of water for daily needs. However, human activities continuously threaten this natural resource. In an attempt to unravel the extent of the impact of human-related activities on groundwater physicochemical characteristics in Nnewi and Awka urban clusters (Nigeria), several techniques were integrated in this study. Groundwater samples were warm and acidic in nature. Concentrations of SO42-, NO3-, PO43-, Cl-, HCO3-, Ca2+, Mg2+, Na+ and K+ were within set benchmarks. The water nutrient pollution index (ranging from 0.060 to 0.745), nitrate pollution index (varying between −0.999 and −0.790) and water pollution index (ranging from 0.057 to 0.630) estimated the extent of anthropogenic contamination and showed low anthropogenic impact on the groundwater physicochemical characteristics. The health risks due to the ingestion and skin absorption of the nitrate-contaminated water computed for six age groups (6–12 months, 5–10 years, 10–15 years, 15–20 years, 20–60 years and >60 years) showed health risk values that were < 1, implying low chronic health risks to humans. The cumulative total health hazard index ranged between 0.006 and 0.787 with a mean value of 0.167. Chemometric analyses and geochemical plots revealed the relationships between the variables and contamination sources. Chadha’s plot showed that 55% of the samples were Ca2+-Mg2+-Cl- waters, predominating over Na+-Cl- and Ca2+-Mg2+-HCO3- wat...