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Assessment of the possible human health hazard associated with exposure to naturally occurring potentially toxic elements in groundwater on the flanks of Meru volcano, Arusha, Tanzania

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Abstract
The population resident in areas around the East African Rift System (EARS) is facing serious problems associated with the availability and quality of drinking water. Groundwater wells, boreholes and springs are the main sources of drinking water in these areas. These sources are, however, characterised by elevated fluoride concentration (> 1.5 mg/L), resulting from the interactions with the surrounding volcanic rocks. The high fluoride levels found in the groundwater are often associated with the presence of other naturally occurring potentially toxic elements (PTEs), such as As, Mo, U and V, which are known to cause adverse effects on human health. The occurrence of such PTEs in the groundwater on the populated flanks of Mt. Meru, an active volcano situated in the EARS, has not been previously reported. The objective of this study is to determine the concentrations and distribution of PTEs in groundwater on the flanks of Mt. Meru to assess the potential health hazards that extend beyond the known fluoride issues in the study area. A large set of PTEs (Al, As, Ba, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Mo, Ni, Se, Sr, Pb, U, V, W and Zn), physicochemical parameters and major elements were analysed in 48 groundwater samples sourced from wells, springs and tap water systems. To estimate the potential health risk associated with consumption of water with elevated concentrations of PTEs, chronic daily intake (CDI) and hazard quotient (HQ) were calculated. Preliminary results show that some of the water samples from the NE and SW flanks exceed the WHO tolerance limit for drinking water for some elements such as U (> 30 µg/L) and Mo (> 70 µg/L) as well as Na (> 200 mg/L) and K (> 50 mg/L). Estimated HQs indicate that such concentrations of Mo and U are not safe for consumption. Therefore, the continued drinking of water from these sources may result in serious health issues. Furthermore, the results show that some samples are characterised by total dissolved solids (TDS) values exceeding the permissible limits of WHO making the groundwater in the study area unsafe for drinking. The results presented in this paper are a part of a larger study on the groundwater quality in the Mt. Meru area and will serve to inform and direct exploitation of safe drinking water.

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MLA
Tomašek, Ines, et al. “Assessment of the Possible Human Health Hazard Associated with Exposure to Naturally Occurring Potentially Toxic Elements in Groundwater on the Flanks of Meru Volcano, Arusha, Tanzania.” AGU Fall Meeting 2020, Abstracts, 2020.
APA
Tomašek, I., Mouri, H., Wragg, J., Bennett, G., Ijumulana, J., Bhattacharya, P., … Kervyn, M. (2020). Assessment of the possible human health hazard associated with exposure to naturally occurring potentially toxic elements in groundwater on the flanks of Meru volcano, Arusha, Tanzania. AGU Fall Meeting 2020, Abstracts. Presented at the AGU Fall Meeting 2020, Online.
Chicago author-date
Tomašek, Ines, Hassina Mouri, Joanna Wragg, George Bennett, Julian Ijumulana, Prosun Bhattacharya, Karen Fontijn, et al. 2020. “Assessment of the Possible Human Health Hazard Associated with Exposure to Naturally Occurring Potentially Toxic Elements in Groundwater on the Flanks of Meru Volcano, Arusha, Tanzania.” In AGU Fall Meeting 2020, Abstracts.
Chicago author-date (all authors)
Tomašek, Ines, Hassina Mouri, Joanna Wragg, George Bennett, Julian Ijumulana, Prosun Bhattacharya, Karen Fontijn, Mary Kisaka, Ceven Shemsanga, Kristine Walraevens, Philippe Claeys, Marc Elskens, Yue Gao, Martine Leermakers, and Matthieu Kervyn. 2020. “Assessment of the Possible Human Health Hazard Associated with Exposure to Naturally Occurring Potentially Toxic Elements in Groundwater on the Flanks of Meru Volcano, Arusha, Tanzania.” In AGU Fall Meeting 2020, Abstracts.
Vancouver
1.
Tomašek I, Mouri H, Wragg J, Bennett G, Ijumulana J, Bhattacharya P, et al. Assessment of the possible human health hazard associated with exposure to naturally occurring potentially toxic elements in groundwater on the flanks of Meru volcano, Arusha, Tanzania. In: AGU Fall Meeting 2020, Abstracts. 2020.
IEEE
[1]
I. Tomašek et al., “Assessment of the possible human health hazard associated with exposure to naturally occurring potentially toxic elements in groundwater on the flanks of Meru volcano, Arusha, Tanzania,” in AGU Fall Meeting 2020, Abstracts, Online, 2020.
@inproceedings{8744314,
  abstract     = {{The population resident in areas around the East African Rift System (EARS) is facing serious problems associated with the availability and quality of drinking water. Groundwater wells, boreholes and springs are the main sources of drinking water in these areas. These sources are, however, characterised by elevated fluoride concentration (> 1.5 mg/L), resulting from the interactions with the surrounding volcanic rocks. The high fluoride levels found in the groundwater are often associated with the presence of other naturally occurring potentially toxic elements (PTEs), such as As, Mo, U and V, which are known to cause adverse effects on human health. The occurrence of such PTEs in the groundwater on the populated flanks of Mt. Meru, an active volcano situated in the EARS, has not been previously reported.
The objective of this study is to determine the concentrations and distribution of PTEs in groundwater on the flanks of Mt. Meru to assess the potential health hazards that extend beyond the known fluoride issues in the study area. A large set of PTEs (Al, As, Ba, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Mo, Ni, Se, Sr, Pb, U, V, W and Zn), physicochemical parameters and major elements were analysed in 48 groundwater samples sourced from wells, springs and tap water systems. To estimate the potential health risk associated with consumption of water with elevated concentrations of PTEs, chronic daily intake (CDI) and hazard quotient (HQ) were calculated. Preliminary results show that some of the water samples from the NE and SW flanks exceed the WHO tolerance limit for drinking water for some elements such as U (> 30 µg/L) and Mo (> 70 µg/L) as well as Na (> 200 mg/L) and K (> 50 mg/L). Estimated HQs indicate that such concentrations of Mo and U are not safe for consumption. Therefore, the continued drinking of water from these sources may result in serious health issues. Furthermore, the results show that some samples are characterised by total dissolved solids (TDS) values exceeding the permissible limits of WHO making the groundwater in the study area unsafe for drinking. The results presented in this paper are a part of a larger study on the groundwater quality in the Mt. Meru area and will serve to inform and direct exploitation of safe drinking water.}},
  articleno    = {{GH018-02}},
  author       = {{Tomašek, Ines and Mouri, Hassina and Wragg, Joanna and Bennett, George and Ijumulana, Julian and Bhattacharya, Prosun and Fontijn, Karen and Kisaka, Mary and Shemsanga, Ceven and Walraevens, Kristine and Claeys, Philippe and Elskens, Marc and Gao, Yue and Leermakers, Martine and Kervyn, Matthieu}},
  booktitle    = {{AGU Fall Meeting 2020, Abstracts}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  location     = {{Online}},
  title        = {{Assessment of the possible human health hazard associated with exposure to naturally occurring potentially toxic elements in groundwater on the flanks of Meru volcano, Arusha, Tanzania}},
  url          = {{https://agu.confex.com/agu/fm20/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/691098}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}