Arsenic Contamination in Groundwater of Punjab - An Overview

Transcription

1 Arsenic Contamination in Groundwater of Punjab - An Overview Prabhdeep Kaur, Inderpreet Singh and Paramjeet Kaur PEC University of Technology, Chandigarh prabh.kaur18@gmail.com, indersingh09@gmail.com ABSTRACT: Groundwater is a common pool resource for drinking and irrigation purposes in Punjab and can be drawn on demand wherever and whenever needed. Pollution by various toxic chemicals is posing a great problem nowadays and contamination of arsenic in groundwater is estimated to affect various parts of the country especially near the gangetic fluvial plains of India including Punjab. As is found to be carcinogenic, As(III) is more toxic than As(IV). In this study, overview of the contamination of arsenic in groundwater of Punjab is studied. It is found that a number of areas have been affected with As contamination that exceeds the standard given in BIS(2012). Being an agricultural state it becomes even more important to identify and curb the problem of As contamination in Punjab. INTRODUCTION: Groundwater is one of the earth s most vital renewable and widely distributed resources as well as an important source of water supply throughout the world. The quality of groundwater has been degraded due to the entrainment of municipal and industrial wastes, chemical fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides etc. Groundwater contamination is generally irreversible i.e. once it is contaminated; it is difficult to restore the original water quality of the aquifer (Singh G. et al., 2013). Groundwater can be contaminated through varieties of chemical substances released at or near the soil surface from point and non point sources (Gautam R. et al, 2013). Some substances found naturally in rocks or soils such as iron, manganese, arsenic, chlorides, fluorides, sulfates or radio nuclides can become dissolved in groundwater (Chilton J., 1996). According to the reports on groundwater, arsenic problems covers a large magnitude of countries ranging from Argentina, Bangladesh, Chile, China, Hungary, India to Mexico, Romania, Taiwan, Vietnam and many parts of the USA ( Singh B.P. et al, 2015). OCCURANCE, SOURCES AND MOBILITY OF ARSENIC IN GROUNDWATER: Arsenic is a naturally occurring element found in soil, surface water as a metalloid and in the form of organic and inorganic compounds (Matschullet, 2000). Arsenic does not occur in the element state and is more common as sulfide and sulfate salts. It forms stable complexes with Fe (hydro-) oxides and aluminum (Dzombak and Morely, 1990; Halter and Pfeifer, 2001). Arsenic can occur in the environment in number of oxidation states ( -3, - 1,0,+3 and +5) but under natural conditions it is mostly found in inorganic form as trivalent arsenite [ As(III) ] or as oxy anions of pentavalent arsenate [ As(V)].( Smedley and Kinnisburgh, 2005). The release of As, by the natural processes in groundwater has been recognized from the Hologene sediments comprising sand, silt and clay ( Bhattacharya et al., 1997; McArthur et al., 2004). Geogenic/ natural processes, smelting operations, 1

2 thermal power plants, intense exploitation of groundwater, application of fertilizers, burning of coal and leaching of metals from coal-ash tailings.(ziemacki G. et al., 1989). Mobilization of Arsenic from solid/sorbed phase to groundwater depends upon Biochemical triggers and also depends upon the Sufficient time to accumulate/retain in the aquifer (Smedley and Kinnisburgh, 2002). Arsenic is released from the sulfide minerals in the shallow aquifer due to oxidation. Lowering of water table owing to over exploitation of groundwater is the cause of release of arsenic ( Das et al., 1994). Under Reducing conditions subsequent arsenic release are likely to take place to reduce arsenic from its oxidized [As(V)] form to its reduced [As(III)] form and this results in net release from adsorption sites. Arsenic mobilization triggers by microbial degradation in the presence of organic substrates in reducing aquifers (Bhattacharya et al., 1997; Bhattacharya et al., 2001). TOXICITY OF ARSENIC: Arsenic is highly toxic in its organic form and arsenic poisoning is a medical condition that is caused by elevated levels of arsenic in the body. Long term drinking water exposure causes skin, lung, bladder and kidney cancer as well as pigmentation changes, skin thickening, neurological disorders, muscular weakness, loss of appetite and nausea (WHO,1981; Kiping, 1997; Jain and Ali, 2000). When As contaminated groundwater is used for watering the crops, it is found that this As becomes incorporated into the food chain and ingestion of food and As contaminated water leads to major exposure pathways of As. OVERVIEW OF GROUNDWATER ARSENIC CONTAMINATION IN INDIA: Occurrence of arsenic pollution in groundwater is known in the Gangetic fluvial plains in India covering West Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh in Flood Plain of Ganga River; Assam and Manipur in flood plain of Brahmaputra and Imphal Rivers, Punjab, Haryana and Chhattisgarh state. Analysis of hand tube-wells water samples from all these states for arsenic detection by School of Environmental Studies, Jadavpur University (SOES, JU) reported the presence of arsenic in 22.94% of the water samples more than 0.05 mg/l ( Indian Standard of Arsenic in Drinking Water). Elevated levels of arsenic is confined only in younger Alluvium which constitute 42 major aquifer systems. Rivers brought the arsenic down from the mountains which contaminates the groundwater in the Ganga plains (Acharyya, 1999;; Das et al. 1996) ARSENIC CONTAMINATION SCENARIO IN GROUNDWATER OF PUNJAB: Groundwater quality is in general potable in major parts of the Punjab. High concentration of Selenium, arsenic and Uranium is observed in different parts of state in groundwater which is major concern as their contamination in drinking water are toxic and affects the health of living beings. Department of Water supply & Sanitation, Govt. of Punjab conducted a sampling from tubewells & hand-pumps and analyzed for contamination of heavy metals. Arsenic contamination were detected in many areas. Depth of most of the Hand-Pumps lies within 50m-100m and Tube-wells within 80m-150m. Results of arsenic contamination are restricted to shallow depth aquifers. Table 1 shows the maximum arsenic contamination in groundwater detected in different areas. S.no Districts Maximum Value of Arsenic Concentration (mg/l) 2

3 1 Amritsar Taran Taran Firozpur Gurdaspur Hoshiarpur Jalandhar Kapurthala Ludhiana Mansa Moga Pathankot Patiala Roopnagar Sangrur SAS Nagar Nawa Shahar Table1: Maximum Value of Arsenic contamination detected from tube-wells & Hand-Pumps samples (2013) of DoDWS, GOP. Central Groundwater Board collected about 50 groundwater samples from piezometers, 42 samples were detected with arsenic contamination (Table 2). Table 2: Habitations showing high Concentration of Arsenic in groundwater in Punjab State ( CGWB, NWR 2014) Chemical analysis for Muktsar-Malout and Talwandi Sabo area that forms a part of Indo- Gangnetic alluvium results in high concentration ( more than 0.01mg/L) of arsenic. Arsenic hot spots occur in occur in newer younger alluvium around flood plains of major rivers (Singh, K.P., et al., 2014). Hundal, et al, in 2008 carried out a study to ascertain arsenic content in ground and canal waters of Punjab and conclusively, it was evident from that study that water extracted by hand-pumps from shallow aquifers of Punjab have arsenic content above the safe limit for drinking purposes (Hundal, et al,2008). On perusal of analysis report of DWSS, , noticeable presence of arsenic contamination in Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Kapurthala, Rupnagar and Taran taran districts.the affected blocked above desirable limit of BIS (2012) is depicted in table 3. 3

4 Table 3: Details of blocks with Arsenic Concentration above the desirable limits of BIS (2012). A study conducted by NEERI, Nagpur in 2012 for two blocks of Gurdaspur namely Dera Baba Nanak and Fatehgarh Churian and the analysis shows that the As in groundwater is above the prescribed BIS limits in 7 groundwater sources. drinking water can cause serious health hazards. Although the contamination of As in groundwater does not follow a uniform trend but it is assumed to be present in alluvial sediments deposited around the flood plains of major rivers. Since the major source of arsenic in groundwater is of geogenic origin, its effective remediation needs understanding of physiochemical processes in groundwater and aquifer framework and groundwater flow regime of the area. The more we understand how, when and where As is mobilized into the groundwater, the more effectively we can find solutions to this major problem. The remedial measures includes variety of options ranging from removing arsenic from groundwater after it is extracted, searching alternative aquifers, biological arsenic removal, phytoremediation, etc. Punjab, being an agricultural state, it becomes even more important to curb this problem as it leads to arsenic poisoning due to direct consumption and through food chain. CONCLUSIONS: Arsenic contamination in groundwater above the acceptable limits is a serious matter of concern. Arsenic is carcinogenic and its presence in REFERENCES: 1. Acharyya, S.K., Chakraborty, P., Lahiri, S., Raymahashay, B.C., Guha, S., Bhowmik, A., Arsenic Poisoning in the Ganges delta. Nature 401, Bhattacharya, P., Chatterjee, D. and Jacks, G., (1997). Occurrence of As contaminated groundwater in Alluvial aquifers from the delta Plains, Eastern India: Option for safe Drinking Water Supply. Int. J. Water Res. Dev., 13, Bhattacharya, P., Jacks,G., Ahmed, K.M., Khan, A.A. and Routh, J., (2002). Arsenic in groundwater of Bengal DeltaPlain aquifers in Bangladesh. Bull. Environ. Contain. Toxicol., 69,

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