Abstract

Geochemical study was undertaken to assess the extent and health impact of toxic heavy metals intrusion to surface and sub-surface water resources in and around uncontrolled solid waste dumpsite of a metropolitan city in India. Water samples were collected from the vicinity of the site with different metal concentration scenario. The concentration (μgL-1) of toxic metals/metalloids viz Cr 27.5±15.4, Mn 257.2±330.9, Co 0.5±0.5, Ni 4.0±2.3, As 18.4±12.6, Cu 5.3±5.0, Zn 292.7±466.7, Cd 0.2±0.5, Pb 1.0±0.4, V 36.8±16.8) were observed in above samples through estimation in dynamic reaction cell inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (DRC-ICP-MS). Human health was evaluated for potential non-carcinogenic hazard quotient (HQ) and carcinogenic risk (CR) for the nearby habitants considering all possible exposure routes. The cumulative hazard index (dermal and ingestion) for child (Σ HI = 4.26E+00) and adult (2.59E+00) reveals that toxic risk is beyond tolerable limit (HQ > 1.00). Arsenic was identified as the most significant pollutant of concern among the ten heavy metals; both its values of the HQ and CR indicated potentially undesirable health risks for the local residents. The estimated risk level for As exposure (3.56E-04) is exceeding the safe standard for cancer (CR=1.0E- 6) unveil that residents confront higher risks, with carcinogenic effects that average 4 in 10,000. However, the cancer risk due to Pb exposure (1.11E-07) is within the target level.