Assessing groundwater quality and health risks of fluoride pollution in the Shasler Vagu (SV) watershed of Nalgonda, India

Abstract

The principal objectives of this study were to evaluate groundwater quality and human health risks of fluoride contamination in Shasler Vagu (SV) watershed of Nalgonda district, India. For this purpose, 107 groundwater samples were collected and analyzed various physcio-chemical parameters including fluoride, and Gibbs diagrams, Hill–Piper trilinear diagram, and groundwater quality index (GWQI) were applied to understand the groundwater chemistry and its suitability for drinking purpose. In addition to this, non-carcinogenic health risks of high fluoride intake were also evaluated using the US Environmental Protection Agency model for adults and children in the study region. Groundwater chemistry is mainly controlled by HCO₃⁻-Ca²⁺-Mg²⁺ and Na⁺-HCO₃⁻ type, and rock weathering. Assessment of GWQI indicates that 76% of groundwater sources in the study region have poor quality for drinking uses. Results reveal that fluoride concentration ranged from 1.4 to 5.9 mg/L in the groundwater samples, which was significantly higher than the recommended limit of 1.5 mg/L for drinking uses. Results of hazard quotient (HQ) estimates are in the ranges of 0.90–3.78 and 1.21–5.11 in adults and children populations of the study region, respectively. About 98% of adults and 100% of children population of SV watershed are at very high risks of chronic toxicity by excess fluoride intake.

Keywords:

• groundwater quality
• fluoride contamination
• health risks
• Nalgonda

Acknowledgments

This study was financially supported by the Department of Science and Technology (DST)-Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), Govt. of India (SR/FTP/ES-13/2013). We thank the anonymous reviewers for their extremely valuable comments and suggestions, which greatly helped and enhanced the quality of this manuscript. The authors are also thankful to the Department of Geology, Osmania University, Hyderabad for providing laboratory facility for this research work.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.