An Analysis of Cancer causing Substances and its Impact on Prevalence of Cancer Cases among General Population residing along Thamirabharani River Basin – Evidence based research

Abstract

As water quality degradation worsens in many countries, economic growth is stunted, health conditions worsen, food production is reduced, and poverty is exacerbated. The aim is to study the quantified levels of carcinogens in the environment, according to IARC Classification such as Arsenic, Cadmium, Chromium, Nickel, Lead, Nitrite/Nitrate and Phosphates and its correlation with spurts of cancer cases across certain sites that lie along Thamirabharani river basin, Tamil Nadu, India. A Systematic literature review for cross-sectional studies that provided information about the groundwater quality was carried out using six databases, "Researchgate, PubMed, Elsevier science direct, Wiley Online Library, Medline and Springerlink" from 2005 to 2021. TNCRP 2021 was taken as a reference to analyze the percentage of all types of cancer cases reported in the districts that lie along the river basin. Quality assessment was done using Newcastle Ottawa Scale. The results show the presence of high concentration of carcinogens in the groundwater and sediments collected near the industries, agricultural land and municipal sewage yard. The significant association between exceeding of the permissible limit of various heavy metal elements and compounds and percentage of cancer cases at that particular site is established in this study. Oral findings commonly associated with chronic toxicity of carcinogenic heavy metals are listed which serves as an alarming signal to adapt to healthy lifestyle and dietary modifications as required.