Chemometric analysis for pollution source identification and human health risk assessment of water resources in Ojoto Province, southeast Nigeria

Abstract

This paper quantified the level of heavy metals contamination, identified possible sources of pollution, and assessed the human health risks associated with drinking water resources in Ojoto Province, Nigeria. The study's gross findings revealed that the suitability of some water sources for consumption purposes in this province is questionable. Based on water quality index, 57.14% of the total samples are within acceptable limits, while 42.86% are unsuitable for drinking. It was observed that the northwestern and southern parts of the study area have more of deteriorated water quality. The health hazard index revealed that 25% of the samples predispose their consumers (both adult and children populations) to high chronic health risks. Moreover, heavy metal pollution index, contamination index, and probability of cancer risk (CR) revealed that about 25% of the total samples were unsuitable and off the CR standard acceptable range of ≤ 1 × 10 −6-1 × 10 −4. Correlation and component factor analyses linked the origin of major ions to geogenic processes and that of the heavy metals to both natural and anthropogenic processes. Cluster analysis divided the samples into two equal classes (50% each): poor and excellent quality waters. This study indicated that Pb is the priority pollutant impacting the water quality. The various assessments revealed that waters from hand-dug wells and deeper boreholes are the least contaminated and hence best suited for drinking than waters from springs, streams, and shallow wells.

Assessment of heavy metals contamination and associated risks in shallow groundwater sources from three different residential areas within Ibadan metropolis, southwest Nigeria

“…where SF i is the slope factor (mg/kg/day). The tolerable CR value is within the range 1 × 10 −6 to 1 × 10 −4 (USEPA 2012;Rahman et al 2018;Ukah et al 2019;Egbueri and Mgbenu 2020).…”

“…The evaluation of the probable extent of undesirable health effects and their likelihood of happening due to the use of contaminated groundwater over a lifetime is required for the evaluation of health risk via oral intake pathway (Osipova et al 2015;Ogundele et al 2019). The most common route for population's exposure to heavy metals is via ingestion pathway (Paul et al 2019;Egbueri and Mgbenu 2020).…”

“…The RfD equivalent for Cd, Zn, Fe, Mn and Pb is 0.001, 0.3, 0.7, 0.14, and 0.0036, respectively (Duggal et al 2017;Enuneku et al 2018 For non-carcinogenic risk, H1 > 1 signifies a high potential health risk; it suggests that the non-carcinogenic risk of ingesting a specific metal surpasses the acceptable safe limit (Ukah et al 2019). However, HI less than unity means that the non-carcinogenic health risk lies within the acceptance limit (Afrifa et al 2013;Kladsomboon et al 2019;Wu et al 2019;Egbueri and Mgbenu 2020).…”

“…The probability of cancer risk of drinking groundwater was evaluated as the incremental likelihood of human being developing cancer over a life span, resulting from the exposure to a prospective carcinogenic element (Enuneku et al 2018;Ukah et al 2019;Egbueri and Mgbenu 2020). The CR is computed using Eq.…”

Assessment of the quality of quaternary groundwater under the influence of anthropogenic activities in the low-income neighbourhoods of the Treichville municipality (Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire)

“…Indeed, in Biafra, there are important depots of paint, barrels of chemical products, and artisanal bitumen manufacturing that might be capable of releasing lead that will seep into the groundwater with the rainwater. An anthropogenic origin of lead in groundwater has also been obtained with Egbueri and Mgbenu [16] in the Ojoto Province, southeast Nigeria.…”