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<p>High prevalence of uranium in groundwater and associated potential health hazards to human population of Bathinda and Moga districts of south-west Punjab, India is presently a matter of great concern, as the groundwater is a major source of drinking water for human consumption as well as irrigation. So, the current integrated study was carried out to understand the spatial and vertical distribution of uranium, associated physico-geochemical parameters and allied path finder elements using hydro-geochemical tools of chemometric statistics. In this study, in comparison to the samples from deeper aquifers, high prevalence (surpassing WHO limit 30&#xa0;µg/L in drinking water) of uranium was observed in 63% and 43% of groundwater samples from shallow depth (&lt; 200 ft) in Bathinda and Moga districts, respectively. Substantial nitrates (mg/L) contamination (Bathinda: 0.16–525.20; Moga: 0.17–71.28) followed by fluoride (mg/L) (Bathinda: 0.56–2.67; Moga: 0.11–2.15) was found in groundwater of both districts. The health risk assessment revealed that cancer risk (CR) and hazard quotient (HQ) values decrease with groundwater depth, indicating higher uranium-related health risks in shallow aquifers, particularly in Bathinda district. The groundwater from deeper aquifers of the study area has been determined to be appropriate for irrigation purpose. From the hydro-geochemistry study in Bathinda district, it was observed that both water–rock interactions and high saline water intrusions were responsible for ionic solubility whereas in Moga district, the primary source of dissolved ions is water–rock interactions. Further, U mobilisation was found to be facilitated by the association of Ca-Mg-SO<sub>4</sub> in the saline groundwater. A strong positive correlation of uranium was observed with its path finder elements (Cr, Mo, Se) in both districts indicated that the geogenic sources are predominantly responsible for the origin of U in groundwater of two districts. So, this study may serve as a baseline dataset for uranium distribution in groundwater of both districts to local communities, state and central government and other associated organizations for designing the policies and remediation strategies to tackle water pollution.</p>

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Uranium prevalence in groundwater: Source apportionment, geochemical signatures, spatial and vertical distribution in Bathinda and Moga districts, Punjab, India

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2025年12月16日

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  • Satvir Singh,
  • Tanu Sharma,
  • B. S. Bajwa,
  • Inderpreet Kaur

摘要

High prevalence of uranium in groundwater and associated potential health hazards to human population of Bathinda and Moga districts of south-west Punjab, India is presently a matter of great concern, as the groundwater is a major source of drinking water for human consumption as well as irrigation. So, the current integrated study was carried out to understand the spatial and vertical distribution of uranium, associated physico-geochemical parameters and allied path finder elements using hydro-geochemical tools of chemometric statistics. In this study, in comparison to the samples from deeper aquifers, high prevalence (surpassing WHO limit 30 µg/L in drinking water) of uranium was observed in 63% and 43% of groundwater samples from shallow depth (< 200 ft) in Bathinda and Moga districts, respectively. Substantial nitrates (mg/L) contamination (Bathinda: 0.16–525.20; Moga: 0.17–71.28) followed by fluoride (mg/L) (Bathinda: 0.56–2.67; Moga: 0.11–2.15) was found in groundwater of both districts. The health risk assessment revealed that cancer risk (CR) and hazard quotient (HQ) values decrease with groundwater depth, indicating higher uranium-related health risks in shallow aquifers, particularly in Bathinda district. The groundwater from deeper aquifers of the study area has been determined to be appropriate for irrigation purpose. From the hydro-geochemistry study in Bathinda district, it was observed that both water–rock interactions and high saline water intrusions were responsible for ionic solubility whereas in Moga district, the primary source of dissolved ions is water–rock interactions. Further, U mobilisation was found to be facilitated by the association of Ca-Mg-SO4 in the saline groundwater. A strong positive correlation of uranium was observed with its path finder elements (Cr, Mo, Se) in both districts indicated that the geogenic sources are predominantly responsible for the origin of U in groundwater of two districts. So, this study may serve as a baseline dataset for uranium distribution in groundwater of both districts to local communities, state and central government and other associated organizations for designing the policies and remediation strategies to tackle water pollution.