Heavy Metal Contamination in Drinking Water Supplies in the Villages of Divandarreh: the Use of Geographic Information System
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Avicenna J Environ Health Eng. 2020 Dec;7(2):86-91 http://ajehe.umsha.ac.ir Original Article doi 10.34172/ajehe.2020.13 Heavy Metal Contamination in Drinking Water Supplies in the Villages of Divandarreh: The Use of Geographic Information System Esmaeil Ghahramani1* ID , Ramin Khoshniyat1, Sonia Chavoshi1, Farhad Ahmadi Kani Golzar2 1Student Research Committee, Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Public Health, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran 2Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran *Correspondence to Esmaeil Ghahramani, Abstract Tel: 09183806512, One of the important aspects of drinking water pollution is the presence of heavy metals that can Email: ghahramani64@gmail. create hazards for consumer’s health. This study was performed to find the concentration of heavy com metals (arsenic, lead, iron, and zinc) in drinking water sources of Divandarreh in Kurdistan province Published online December and prepare its zoning map. A total of 99 wells, springs, and reservoirs were selected for sampling in 31, 2020 78 rural areas of Divandarreh County. Samples were collected from each source using grab sampling methods in two phases (rainy and dry seasons). To find the concentration of lead, the atomic absorption device (VARIAN 240 AA) was used, and Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP: VARIAN 710) was used for determining the concentration of arsenic, iron, and zinc. Analysis of data was done using SPSS version 22.0 and the analysis of spatial variability and estimation of the concentration of heavy metals (preparation of zoning map) in the study area were carried out by ArcGIS software. The average concentrations of arsenic, lead, iron, and zinc in dry and rainy seasons were 1, 0.6, 62.9, 31.4, and 0.13, 2.16, 11.5, 19.8, respectively. Zinc, iron, and lead concentrations in sample No. 36 were higher than the standard level; therefore, it can be inferred that these three elements can create health problems in the future. Keywords: Heavy metals, Divandarreh, Groundwater, Water supply, Geographic Information System Open Access Scan to access more (GIS) free content Received July 5, 2020; Revised December 11, 2020; Accepted December 20, 2020 1. Introduction challenge, usually due to their limited economic capacities In recent years, the long-term use of groundwater to use advanced technologies for heavy metal removal. resources and the discharge of industrial wastewater into The greatest threat of toxic heavy metals was reported in the environment have caused an increase in groundwater the groundwater of several countries, including Mexico, contamination (1). One of the important dimensions Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh, India, China, Thailand, Chile, of drinking water pollution is the presence of heavy and Iran (7,8). For proper management of groundwater in metals that can be hazardous for consumer’s health. every area, it is necessary to precisely evaluate its quality. Heavy metals are defined as a group of elements with a Heavy metals exist as natural constituents of the earth’s specific gravity greater than 6 g/cm3 or an atomic mass of crust and are persistent environmental contaminants 50 (2). Due to their toxicity, environmental persistence, because they cannot be destroyed or degraded and most and accumulation in the environment, heavy metals are accumulate (9). However, their concentrations have classified as dangerous contamination; it mainly results increased as a result of human activities. Human exposure from natural (i.e., weathering, erosion of bedrocks, and ore to heavy metals may occur by a variety of pathways, these deposits) and anthropogenic (mining, smelting, industrial species may enter the human body through inhalation of influx, agriculture, and wastewater irrigation processes) dust, direct ingestion of soil and water, dermal contact sources (3-5). Since heavy metals can enter water sources with contaminated soil and water, and consumption of through environmental pollutants as well as the corrosion vegetables grown in contaminated fields (10). The acute of pipe materials, the value of these elements in drinking exposure to lead induces brain damage, kidney damage, water should be continuously monitored and controlled and gastrointestinal diseases, while chronic exposure (6). To date, most of the developing countries face this may cause adverse effects on the blood, cardiovascular © 2020 The Author(s); Published by Hamadan University of Medical Sciences. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Heavy Metal Concntration in the Drinking Water Supplies of Divandareh system, central nervous system, reproductive disorders, skin lesions blood pressure, kidneys, and vitamin D metabolism (11-15). Other heavy metals such as iron and zinc are essential and have physiological roles, but these elements can create toxic effects on living organisms when their concentration exceeds the maximum permissible level (16,17). Arsenic, lead, and zinc are considered most toxic and highly soluble in water that can be accumulated in aquatic organisms. The high concentration of these metals, especially lead and arsenic, may accumulate in the human body (18). Geographic information system (GIS) is a system which has been designed to capture, store, Fig. 1. Location of the Study, Divandarreh County, Kurdistan manipulate, analyze, manage, interpret and summarize Province, Iran. data, and present all types of geographically referenced data needed for the use of land, the environmental changes, 2.2. Sample Collection and Analysis damages, wastes, and pollution. Therefore, the GIS can In this project, according to the request of the Rural Water be considered as a bridge between databases, resources, and Sewerage Company of Kurdistan province, 99 wells, and management (19, 20). Samani et al conducted a study springs and reservoirs were selected for sampling in 78 on groundwater in the Marvdasht plains of Shiraz and villages of Divanderreh city. Samples were collected from reported that arsenic and lead concentrations were higher each source using grab sampling methods in two phases than the standard level in 7.5 and 2% of the samples (21). (rainy and dry seasons) during 2016-2017 according Mebrahtu and Zerabruk investigated the heavy metal to standard methods for the examination of water and values in drinking water in urban areas of the Tigray wastewater (23). The concentration of heavy metals Region, Northern Ethiopia. The results showed that (arsenic, zinc, iron, and lead) in drinking water was arsenic (40.3%), iron (37.31%), and lead (29.85%) investigated and the results were compared with national exceeded the maximum admissible and desirable limits standards and WHO guidelines. The containers were recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) washed and rinsed with double distilled water before (22). sampling and the bottles were rinsed twice with the water It is vital to conduct studies to evaluate the level of being sampled prior to filling. Then, 2 mL of concentrated contamination in drinking water resources in Iran. The nitric acid was added to each sample until the pH was results of such evaluation can be helpful for managers reduced to less than 2, and it was kept at 4°C for further to provide drinking water with a good quality. Drinking analysis. To determine the lead concentration, the atomic water resources in the rural area of Divandarreh county absorption device (Varian 240 AA), and for determining include groundwater, and no sufficient study has been the concentration of arsenic, iron, and zinc, Inductively conducted on heavy metal contamination of drinking Coupled Plasma (ICP, Varian 710) was used. Statistical water in rural areas of Divandarreh so far. Therefore, this analysis of data was done using SPSS version 22.0 and study was carried out to determine the concentration the analysis of spatial variability and estimation of the of heavy metals (arsenic, lead, iron, and zinc) in rural concentration of heavy metals (preparation of zoning drinking water sources of Divandarreh in Kurdistan map) in the study area were done by ArcGIS software province during 2016-2017. These metals are considered version 10.2. the most toxic heavy metals which are highly soluble in water and can be accumulated in aquatic organisms. 3. Results and Discussion Concentrations of the studied heavy metals (arsenic, 2. Materials and Methods iron, lead, and zinc) are presented in Tables 1 and 2. 2.1. Study Area The results showed that the average concentration of In this cross-sectional study, the concentration of heavy metals (arsenic, lead, iron, and zinc) in most of heavy metals (arsenic, zinc, iron, and lead) in drinking the samples of this project is lower than the maximum water supplies of rural areas of Divandarreh city was allowed in the national and the WHO standards. investigated. Divandarreh is located at 34°’N latitude and 46°32’E longitude, and it is one of the main towns 3.1. Arsenic in Kurdistan, Iran (Fig. 1). It includes 170 villages, of Tables 1 and 2 showed that concentrations of arsenic 117 villages are covered by Kurdistan Rural Water and in the water samples collected from Divandarreh villages Wastewater Company. The locations of sampling stations ranged from 0.01 to 16.9 and