Health risk assessment due to heavy metal contamination in groundwater of Basuhi River Basin, Jaunpur, India

Groundwater in river basins serves as a prime source of freshwater for human consumption and agricultural needs. Effluent discharge from municipal, industrial, and irrigation activities contains undesirable dissolved chemicals that percolate into groundwater, posing human health risks. The present study investigated the distribution of heavy metals (HMs) including Iron (Fe), cobalt (Co), zinc (Zn), nickel (Ni), copper (Cu), selenium (Se), manganese (Mn), chromium (Cr), silver (Ag), lead (Pb), barium (Ba), cadmium (Cd), and aluminum (Al) in groundwater and their health implications at the Basuhi river basin (BRB) in Jaunpur, India. The mean concentration of HMs in groundwater samples was found to be in the order of Sr (697.2) > Al (582.56) > Zn (295) > Ba (83.8) > (57.71) > Fe (53.35) > Cr (4.96) > Pb (3.27) > Ni (2.90) > Cu (1.11) > As (0.55) > Se (0.54) > Ag (0.25) > Cd (0.22) > Co (0.22) µg/l. Further, the Modified Heavy Metal Pollution Index (m-HPI) and Heavy Metal Evaluation Index (HEI), coupled with multivariate statistical analysis, were also applied to evaluate the health risks to humans because of HM contamination. The HEI range varied between 2.70 and 8.10, with an average of 4.13, which can be considered low risk. Whereas, the m-HPI range for positive index (PI) was found to be 0.76 to 2.91 and negative index (NI) -0.44 to -0.65. Influence of m-HPI and PI results to be given noticeably 82.4% of samples have more than 1, which is not suitable for drinking, whereas, 17.6% of groundwater samples were found to be < 1 and require proper treatment before drinking. Pearson correlation coefficient (PCC) and principal component analysis (PCA) showed the impact of agricultural and industrial activities on groundwater quality. Open solid waste dumping sites and improper discharge of untreated/partially treated effluents may be the primary sources of HM pollution in the groundwater. Implementation of standard waste disposal practices and regular monitoring are required to avoid adverse consequences.