Health Risk Assessment of Groundwater in Omu-Aran, Nigeria

Abstract

Pollution of groundwater by bathroom, laundry and kitchen effluent has been documented to have non-desirable health and environmental effects. There is little information about the quality of groundwater and associated health effects in Omu-Aran. The present research therefore meets the need to investigate the levels of heavy metals, the pollution effects, and the long term human health risk effect on local inhabitants in Omu-Aran. Thirty water samples were collected from five hand dug wells (HWs) in different parts of Omu-Aran spanning a period of three months and the heavy metal parameters were determined using standard protocol. The non-carcinogenic risk was evaluated using hazard index (HI) according to United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) risk assessment method. Data analysis were carried out by the use of descriptive statistics. From the result, mean values and SD of heavy metals in the water samples obtained from selected HWs ranged from 0.16 ± 0.13 to 0.29 ± 0.18 mg/L, 0.29 ± 0.02 to 1.36 ± 0.07 mg/L, 0.00 ± 0.00 to 0.72 ± 0.04 mg/L, 0.00 ± 0.00 to 0.51 ± 0.09 mg/L, 0.01 ± 0.01 to 5.26 ± 0.07 mg/L, and from 0.03 ± 0.01 to 12.96 ± 2.82 mg/L for Al, Fe, Mn, Cr, Cu, and Zn respectively. The heavy metals were all above the WHO limits except Pb and Fe. The hazard index values ranged from 1.406 to 10.075 indicating significant non-carcinogenic risk. The findings of the study, has shown that there is considerable amount of heavy metal pollution which stems from anthropogenic sources. There was no observable risk via dermal pathways based on hazard quotient values while non-carcinogenic risk via ingestion was observed for all the locations. There is therefore a need to bring awareness to the community for the purpose of ensuring safety of its active water sources.

Evaluation of Trends for Iron and Manganese Concentrations in Shallow Groundwater, Jakarta City

“…Excess iron in the human body will interfere with health such as heart attacks, and disorders of blood vessels, and dangerously can cause liver cancer. This happens because iron accumulates, especially in the filtering organs that can attack the physiological functions of the human body [16]. Kapuk Muara is also an area experiencing a decline in water quality with high iron concentrations occurring in 2018 and 2020.…”

Physicochemical quality, microbial load and health risk assessment of groundwater in view of the sustainable development goals 3, 6, and 11 in Osogbo, Nigeria

“…The observations triggered suggestions for comprehensive sources' monitoring and appropriate treatment of the sampled water to help in the realisation of good health and well-being (SDG 3) and its associate (SDG 11) considered in this study. Five hand-dug wells for 30 water samples were compared with WHO limits and health risk assessment of ingestion and dermal in Omu-Aran, Kwara State, Nigeria, by Elemile et al (2021). The results showed that 5 over 7 analysed metals exceeded the WHO limits, while ingestion but dermal index indicated noncarcinogenic effects for all the samples.…”

Principal component analysis of groundwater sources pollution in Omu-Aran Community, Nigeria

“…Anthropogenic activities have been found to influence groundwater quality (Moyo, 2013;Elemile et al 2019a,b) and majority of the microbial contaminants come from fecal sources of animals and humans (Takal and Quaye-ballard, 2018). Pathogenic microorganisms should not be found in water resources as disease outbreaks, including cholera and dysentery, are often the result of such contamination, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) According to Elemile et al (2021), health challenges are the resultant effect of water pollution. Therefore, providing safe potable water, adequate sanitation and hygiene, are essential in protecting health, and directly contribute to achieving good health and well-being (United Nations 2018).…”