Hydrogeochemistry of fluoride concentration in groundwater and human health risk assessment: A study from some parts of Rarh Bengal, Eastern India

Abstract

Excess fluoride (F-) in drinking water results in serious health risks in many parts of the world as well as western parts of Rarh Bengal, India. The current study was carried out to investigate the relationship between fluoride and other physiochemical parameters, as well as to assess the health risk of residents of the Simlapal Block, Bankura District. In this study, 26 water samples collected from the five highly fluoride-contaminated villages were tested for fluoride and other chemical characteristics. The result shows that fluoride correlates considerably negatively with Na (-0.07), Ca (-0.12), Cl (-0.19), Mg (-0.10), and SO4 (-0.09) but significantly positively with pH (0.88), TDS (0.82), EC (0.98), TH (0.89), K (0.19), and HCO3 (0.91). Based on the geochemical classification of groundwater, the three main hydro-chemical facies are Ca-Cl, Na-HCO3, and NaHCO3-Ca. The Gibbs diagram demonstrates that rock water interaction and evaporation are the primary controlling mechanisms for adjusting the water quality in this hard rock aquifer. Notably, 85 percent of water samples revealed fluoride concentrations over the permitted limit of 1.5 mg/L. The study found that the groundwater fluoride content in the area ranged from 2.93 mg/L to 10.51 mg/L, resulting in dental, skeletal, and other fluorosis. Children and teenagers are more vulnerable to fluoride poisoning than adults, according to the hazard quotient of fluoride (HQFluoride) index. To provide clean drinking water and lower the risk of fluorosis, meticulous planning is necessary. Findings of this research and recommendation may be useful for planners and policy makers for providing public health facilities in the areas.