Arsenic Exposure in Children through Drinking Water

Biol Trace Elem Res DOI 10.1007/s12011-016-0636-0

Arsenic Exposure in Children through Drinking Water in Different Districts of Sindh, Pakistan Jameel Ahmed Baig 1 & Tasneem Gul Kazi 1 & Muhammad Ayaz Mustafa 4 & Imam Bakhsh Solangi 2 & Mirza Junaid Mughal 3 & Hassan Imran Afridi 1

Received: 12 November 2015 / Accepted: 29 January 2016 # Springer Science+Business Media New York 2016

Abstract A cross sectional study has been conducted during 2007–2010 for the assessment of arsenic (As) contamination in drinking water, and its impact on the health of local public belongs to five districts of Sindh, Pakistan. The toxic risk assessment of As in different areas of Sindh province based upon its concentration in drinking water and scalp hair of boys and girls of age group 5–10 and 11–15 years. The total and inorganic As species in drinking water samples of four districts Hyderabad, Sukkur, Naushehro Firoze, Nawab shah, and Dadu were determined by advance pre-concentration methodologies. The resulting data indicated that the dominant inorganic As species in municipal treated (Hyaderabad) and hand pumps (Sukkur, Naushehro Firoze, Nawab shah and Dadu) water samples were arsenate (As V ) and arsenite (AsIII), respectively. The total As concentrations in hand pumps water samples of Dadu district were 6.0- to 35-fold higher than the World Health Organization permissible limit of (10 μg/L) for drinking water. Whereas, total As in hand pump water samples of Sukkur, Naushehro Firoze, and Nawab shah were found in the range of 26.0–98.2, 18.0–

50.6, and 52.3–85.2 μg/L, respectively. However, municipal treated water samples of Hyderabad were within recommended level (As 95 % of total As, which may have capability to absorb easily in the gastrointestinal tract [33, 34]. About 50–70 % As absorbed As in the gastrointestinal tract and lungs through inhalation and ingestion may be excreted from body through urine [16, 17]. The residual absorbed As in human body tends to accumulate in keratinized tissues, such as skin, hair, and nails [13, 16]. The hairs may be provided long-term history and information of chronic As exposure due to their high biological stability [35]. Moreover, numerous studies have shown that As concentrations in hair may have good association with As contents in drinking water [13, 33, 35, 36]. Thus, human hairs have been extensively used as biomarker for for the quantification of As contents during human epidemiological studies [35, 37]. The objective of this study was to evaluate the cumulative exposure of As via drinking water and its correlation with As

levels in scalp hair of children and calculated As toxic risk factors in Hyderabad, Sukkur, Naushehro Firoze, Nawab shah, and Dadu. The total, inorganic, pentavalent, and trivalent As species were determined in drinking water of these regions, while total As in scalp hair samples of boys and girls of two age groups (6–10 and 11–15 years) were analyzed for As toxicity risk assessment. The influence of different factors, i.e., As concentration in municipal treated and groundwater, period of water consumption, age, and body mass index were estimated. The correlation of As in drinking water and scalp hair samples of boys and girls were also studied.

Experimental Work Water Sampling The representative hand pump samples at the depth > 15 m were collected during 2007–2010 from Sukkur, Naushehro Firoze, Nawab shah, and Dadu districts of Sindh, Pakistan (n = 200; 50 samples from each district) and map of sampling districts is shown in Fig.1. For comparative purposes, the representative municipal treated water samples (n = 70) were collected from Hyderabad, Pakistan. The collected water samples were kept in well-stoppered polyethylene plastic bottles, which were previously soaked in 10 % nitric acid for 24 h and rinsed with ultrapure water obtained from ELGA LabWater system. All water samples were stored in an insulated cooler containing ice and delivered on the same day to the laboratory and kept at 4 °C until processing and analysis [9]. The analysis of AsT total iAs and AsIII were accomplished on the same day to avoid the risk of transformation of species as reported elsewhere [38]. Study Population The representative scalp hair samples of boys and girls (n = 337) were simultaneously collected from the same sampling sites of district Sukkur, Naushehro Firoze, Nawab Shah, and Dadu Sindh, Pakistan. The selected populations of boys and girls were divided into two age groups 6–10 and 11– 15 years (Table 1). The study population of boys and girls of district Sukkur, Naushehro Firoze, and Nawab Shah have no apparent arsenicosis symptom. However, among the representative boys and girls of Dadu district, about 65 % of elder age group boys and girls have raindrop pigmentation on the face, palms of the hands, and soles of the feet. While younger group boys and girls of Dadu district have rough and dry skin. For comparative purposes, the scalp hair samples referent boys and girls (n = 145) residing in Hyderabad district, consuming municipal treated water were also collected. Total number of male children of two different age group 6–10 and 11–15 years of study population are summarized in Table 1. The body

Arsenic Exposure in Children through Drinking Water

Fig. 1 Map of study districts of Sindh, Pakistan

mass indexes of boys and girls belonging to district Sukkur, Noshehro Feroz, Nawab Shah, and Dadu were less than the recommended value, indicated the malnutrition and poor health. Cross-sectional epidemiological studies are particularly useful for establishing prevalences and identifying underlying risk factors. Ethical approval was provided by the participating institutions, and permission to conduct the scalp hair sampling has been undertaken by the head of government basic health center of each district. The boys and girls, who gave their consent, were recruited for scalp hair sampling. Participating boys and girls did not receive incentives. An information sheet accompanied each questionnaire outlining the research aims and

Table 1

Scalp hair sampling statistics for different districts of Sindh

District

Hyderabad Dadu Sukkur Naushehro Firoze Nawab Shah

6–10 years

11–15 years

Boys

Girls

Boys

Girls

12 15 15 19 14

17 20 18 15 12

16 14 18 17 20

20 16 20 21 18

Total

objectives. Moreover, all study population (boys and girls) were informed that participation was voluntary and anonymous. Before the start of this study, each participant was also informed about the motive of study in local language (Sindhi) with the assistance of a local non-government organization BYoung Welfare Society, Sindh^. The sociodemographic information (e.g., gender, age), nutrition, dietary intake, and food consumption patterns, as well as the importance of healthy eating, three levels of physical activity, restful sleep, tobacco smoking, use of illicit substance (recreational drugs), frequency of binge drinking, and drinking problem, has been collected. All the outcomes were examined according to As levels in the drinking water and scalp hair of each participant. The scalp hair samples were collected from the nape of the head using stainless steel scissors. Hair samples were sealed separately in labeled polyethylene zip-lock bags and were not opened until return to the laboratory. Reagents and Materials

65 65 71 72 64

Ultrapure water (resistance 0.05 μS/cm) obtained from an ELGA LabWater system (Bucks, UK) was used throughout the experiment. Concentrated HCl (purity 37 %, sp. gr. 1.19) and H2O2 (purity 30 %, sp. gr. 1.11) were of analytical reagent grade and were obtained from Merck (Darmstadt, Germany).

Baig et al.

Ammonium pyrrolidinedithiocarbamate (APDC) obtained from Fluka Kamica (Buchs, Switzerland) was used as the chelating agent to form the hydrophobic metal complexes. The APDC solution (0.1 % w/v) was prepared by dissolving a suitable amount of APDC in ultrapure water. Titanium (IV) dioxide (purity 99 %, Merck) was used as a sorbent. The stock standard solution of iAsIII at a concentration of 1000 mg/L was prepared by dissolving of As2O3 (Merck) in 1.0 mol/L KOH and adjusting the pH to 7.0 with 10 % HCl. While the working standard solutions for As analysis by atomic absorption spectrometry were prepared by dilution of certified standard solution (1000 mg/L) in 0.2 M HNO3 obtained from Fluka Kamica (Buchs, Switzerland). Triton X-114 Sigma (St.Louis, MO, USA) was used as the non-ionic surfactant. Appropriate dilutions were made from this solution with 1.0 M HCl whenever required. The chemical modifier Mg(NO3)2 stock standard solution, 2000 mg/L, was prepared from Mg(NO3)2 (Merck), and Pd stock standard solution, 3000 mg/L, was prepared from Pd 99.999 % (Aldrich, Milwaukee, WI, USA). For the accuracy of methodology, certified reference materials (CRMs) of human hair BCR 397, BCR (Brussels, Belgium), and water SRM 1643e, NIST (Gaithersburg, MD, USA) were used. All glass wares and polyethylene bottles were thoroughly washed and soaked overnight in 5.0 mol/L HNO3 and were thoroughly rinsed with distilled and de-ionized water before use.

standards/samples and 10 μl modifier (5 μg Mg(NO3)2 + 3 μg Pd) were injected into the electrothermal graphite atomizer. Integrated absorbance signals computed by the AA spectrometer were employed throughout.

Determination of Total As (AsT) Duplicate water samples collected from each site were treated according to US EPA Method 3015 [39, 40]. For quality control purposes, the Standard Reference Water, SMR1643e (NIST, Gaithersburg, MD) was used. The average recovery was 98.9 % and the percentage relative deviation was below 1.48 % [4, 39].

Determination of Total Inorganic Arsenic and its Species Total iAs and AsIII were determined by solid phase and cloud point extractions methods, respectively. The detail about the determinations of total iAs and AsIII were reported in our previous work [31, 41]. The concentration of AsV could not be determined directly according to the above analytical procedure, but its concentration was estimated as the difference of total iAs and AsIII.

Apparatus

Preparation of Scalp Hair Samples

WIROWKA Laboratoryjna type WE-1, nr-6933 centrifuge (speed range 0–6000 rpm, timer 0–60 min, 220/50 Hz; Mechanika Phecyzyjna, Poland) was used for centrifugation. A mechanical shaker (Gallenkamp, UK) was used for shaking. The pH was measured by a pH meter (781 pH meter; Metrohm). A global positioning system (GPS) iFinder (Lowrance, Mexico) was used for sampling locations (Fig 1). The As was determined by a double-beam Perkin Elmer (Norwalk, CT, USA) atomic absorption spectrophotometer equipped with a graphite furnace HGA-400, autosampler AS-800, and deuterium lamp for background correction used for quantitative analysis of tAs, iAs, and their species. Singleelement hollow cathode lamp of As operated at 7.5 mA was used as energy source. The As signal was isolated at 193.7 nm with a spectral bandwidth of 0.7 nm, and atomization was achieved in a pyrocoated graphite tube with integrated platform. WinLab 32 software was used to acquire and process analytical data. The graphite furnace heating program was set for different steps for As analysis as drying temperature (°C)/ ramp/hold(s) (140/15/15), ashing temperature (°C)/ramp/ hold(s) (1300/10/20), atomization temperature (°C))/ramp/ hold (2300/0/5), cleaning temp. (°C)/ramp/hold(s) (2600/1/ 3). For all determinations, argon (200 ml/min) was used as a purge gas except during the atomization step. Ten microliter of

The scalp hair samples were cut into small pieces (2 cm) and washed as proposed by the International Atomic Energy Agency prior to analysis. The hair samples were successively washed with ultrapure water, three times with acetone, and finally with ultrapure water (three times). The samples were then oven dried at 60 °C. After drying duplicate samples of scalp hair (200 mg), each subject was directly taken in PTFE flasks (25 mL in capacity). About 2 mL of a freshly prepared mixture of concentrated HNO3–H2O2 (2:1, v/v) was added to each flask and kept for 10 min at room temperature, and then the flasks were placed in a covered PTFE container, then heated following a one-stage digestion program at 80 % of total power (900 W). Complete digestion of scalp hair samples required 2–4 min. After the digestion, the flasks were cooled at room temperature and the resulting solutions were evaporated to semidried mass to remove excess acid. About 5 mL of 0.1 M nitric acid was added to the residue and filtered through a Whatman no.42 filter paper and diluted with deionized water up to 10 mL in volumetric flasks. Blank extractions were carried out through the complete procedure. Blanks and standard solutions were prepared in a similar acid matrix. The validity and efficiency of the microwave assisted digestion method was checked with certified values of CRM BCR397 of human hair.


Arsenic Risk Assessment

Analytical Figure Merit

Arsenic risk factor has been calculated for noncarcinogenic exposure, as hazard quotient (HQ) can be calculated as [42, 43]:

The calibration graph was obtained for the determination of iAsIII and total iAs by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry. The calibration graph for iAsIII and AsT was linear with a correlation coefficient of 0.9999 and 0.998, respectively, at quantification limit up to 20 μg/L. The LOD values were 0.05 and 0.22 μg/L and LOQ 0.12 and 0.63 μg/L for iAsIII and total iAs, respectively. Due to the unavailability of reference material for As speciation, the validity of the analytical method was performed on three replicate sub-samples of a municipal treated tap water, spiking with iAsIII and total iAs at three concentrations level, then applying both methods. The recoveries for iAsIII and total iAs were generally greater than 98 % (Table 2). A good agreement was obtained between the added and measured analyte concentrations. In order to validate the method for total arsenic, certified reference materials SRM 1643e (water) and BCR 397 (human hair) were analyzed. The average recovery was >97 % and the percentage coefficient of variation were 0.05) among the concentration of inorganic species of As in hand pump water of all studied districts (Table 4). The contents of iAs were about 95–98 % of AsT in hand pump water samples of all studied districts (Tables 3 and 4). The high level of inorganic As species in hand pump samples of all districts might be due to dissolution of settled down As bearing compounds, coming from the Himalayas via Indus River throughout the years [15, 38]. It has been observed that the AsV was leading inorganic species as compared to AsIII in hand pump water samples of Sukkur, Naushehro Firoze, Nawabshah, and Dadu districts (Table 3). The elevated levels of AsV in studied hand pump water samples might be due to high concentrations of

Scalp hair (mg/kg) Boys 6–10 years

Girls

Boys 11–15 years

Girls

0.15–0.28 0.22–0.34 0.34–0.56 0.40–0.92 4.50–8.20

0.18–0.32 0.18–0.35 0.37–0.53 0.38–0.94 6.00–8.90

0.25–0.40 0.28–0.45 0.34–0.60 0.42–0.96 7.50–10.20

0.23–0.38 0.30–0.50 0.30–0.62 0.50–1.02 6.80–9.52

Arsenic Exposure in Children through Drinking Water Table 4 Analytical results of inorganic As in drinking waters of different districts District

Arsenic species

Water (μg/L)

Hyderabad

AsIII AsV iAs AsIII

3.68–7.08 1.42–5.27

AsV

13.5–50.1

iAs AsIII AsV iAs AsIII AsV iAs AsIII AsV iAs

25.0–93.3 9.00–21.7 8.70–27.3

Sukkur

Naushehro Firoze

Nawab Shah

Dadu

6.34–9.87 11.5–43.2

17.6–49.1 24.1–37.5 26.1–46.0 50.2–83.5 26.7–148 35.0–186 61.6–335

HCO3 (>500 mg/L), SO42- (>250 mg/L), and pH > 7.5 under oxidizing environment [5, 21, 41, 46]. All this provides evidence that the anthropogenic and geological environment plays a key role in the distribution of studied inorganic As species in water bodies of the areas under study. The concentrations of AsT in scalp hair of boys and girls of two age groups (6–10 and 11–15 years) of five districts of Sindh Pakistan are given in Table 3. The concentration of AsT in scalp hair samples of boys and girls (age groups 6–10 and 11–15 years) was significantly higher in Dadu district ranged from (0.15–0.28 and 0.25–0.40) to (0.18–0.32 and 0.23–0.38) mg/kg, respectively. The contents of AsT scalp hair of girls of age group 6–10 and 11–15 years of Sukkur, Noshehro Feroz, and Nawabshah districts were higher than boy subjects belonging to same areas. However, the difference was not significant (p < 0.01). The boy and girl subjects of both age and gender groups who belong to the Hyderabad district consuming municipal treated water had significantly lower AsT concentration in scalp hair samples as compared to boys and girls belonging to other studied districts (p > 0.01). The AsT levels in scalp hair samples of (Sukkur, Naushehro Firoze, and Nawabshah) indicated that the population was at risk of moderate As toxicity. Whereas, the study subjects belonging to Dadu district were at risk of high risk of As toxicity. However, the level as the AsT levels in scalp hair of boys and girls of both age groups belonging to Hyderabad districts was within the recommended values of AsT 0.080 to 0.250 mg/kg in human hair [47]. The high exposure of As in boys and girls of both age groups of district Dadu had As-induced skin disorders as compared to boys and girls of other studied districts (p > 0.01). It is expected that the boys and girls of age group 6–10 and 11–

15 years of Dadu districts were at high risk of arsenicosis due to continuous consumtion of As contaminated ground water. Whereas, there was no apparent effects of As exposure observed in boys and girls of both age groups belonging to Sukkur, Naushehro Firoze, and Nawabshah districts, although the level of AsT in scalp hair samples was found to be higher than boys and girls of both age groups belonging to district Hyderabad. These finding are in accordance with other studies [4, 6, 15, 16, 18–20, 35, 48]. The resulting data shows that the AsT levels in scalp hair of boys and girls, age ranged 11–15 years, were found to be higher as compared to the younger age group (6–10 years) in all understudy areas. This might be due to high ingestion rate of As containing drinking water (2.0 L) for longer time period in elder age group [17, 36]. The children are more susceptible to toxicant including As [13]. It is a commonly known reality that the continuous growth in childern with respect to increase in age needed more nutrients. Thus, they consume more food per unit body weight than the adults and the excretion also varies with maturation of the kidney and other systems [2, 13, 17]. Thus, in addition to high levels of As through drinking water, other local food commodities may have contribution in exposure of As toxicity [49–56]. Thus, the correlation of AsT in scalp hair samples of boys and girls of two age groups residing in Hyderabad, Sukkur, Naushehro Firoze, Nawabshah, and Dadu districts with the AsT levels of corresponding drinking water has been computed (Table 5). The significantly higher correlation (r = 0.86– 0.89, p < 0.001) of AsT concentrations in hand pump water samples with the AsT in scalp hair of boys and girls of both age groups belonging to district Dadu were observed as compared to other studied districts of Sindh, Pakistan (p > 0.01). The good correlation has been found between AsT contents in drinking water and scalp hair samples of boys and girls of both age groups of districts Sukkur, Naushehro Firoze, and Nawabshah (r = 0.670–0.741, r = 0.771–0.829, and r = 0.820–0.859, p < 0.05, respectively). The weak correlation has been observed between AsT concentration in municipal treated water and scalp hair of studied population both gender and age groups (r < 0.500; p > 0.05). However, the food and water were considered to be major sources of As as well as with background exposures from inhalation of airborne particles or ingestion of soils being negligible in the general population [57]. The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry in 2000 demonstrated that As can enter the human body via several pathways, but all other intake routes of As are usually negligible in comparison to oral intake [58, 59]. Thus, the estimated daily intake dose (EDI) of As through drinking water (municipal treated and hand pumps water) was calculated to assess the As intake at different levels. The boys and girls of Sukkur, Naushehro Firoze, Nawabshah, and Dadu districts were equally and continuously exposed to As contaminated drinking water

Baig et al. Table 5 Linear regression and Pearson coefficient in between total As in scalp hair samples of children of two age groups (6– 10 years and 11–15 years) versus total As in drinking water of three understudy areas

District

Hyderabad Sukkur

AsT in drinking water versus AsT in scalp hair Boys 6–10 years

Girls

Boys 11–15 years

Girls

y = 0.027x + 0.044

y = 0.028x − 0.069

y = 0.026x + 0.089

y = 0.03x + 0.050

r = 0.450

r = 0.435

r = 0.474

r = 0.494

y = 0.001x + 0.193

y = 0.001x + 0.157

y = 0.001x + 0.273

y = 0.002x + 0.268

r = 0.670

r = 0.708

r = 0.689

r = 0.741

Naushehro Firoze

y = 0.007x + 0.244

y = 0.004x + 0.295

y = 0.006x + 0.284

y = 0.008x + 0.178

r = 0.829

r = 0.771

r = 0.774

Nawab Shah

y = 0.014x − 0.291

y = 0.015x − 0.268

y = 0.016x − 0.401

r = 0.806 y = 0.014x − 0.201

r = 0.859 y = 0.001x + 5.793

r = 0.845

r = 0.846

Dadu

r = 0.820 y = 0.001x + 4.841 r = 0.962

r = 0.975

y = 0.0001x + 7.493

y = 0.0001x + 6.997

r = 0.955

r = 0.976

throughout their lives. The mean concentration of As in drinking water can be used to calculate EDI by multiplying As concentration of drinking water with daily intake volume. Information on individual water consumption history in study population including drinking water sources (ground and municipal treated drinking water) has to be collected based on verbal questionnaire. The water consumption is definitely influenced by other factors, for example, weather (air temperature and humidity) and labor intensity, in addition to body size of study subjects. It has been noted that the all study districts have hot weather (up to 45 °C). Thus, the intake rate (IR) assumed as an average 1.5 and 2.0 L/day for young and elder children, respectively. Whereas, the other parameters, exposure frequency (EF) based on 365 days/year, average exposure duration (ED) of 7.5 and 12.5 years for 6–10 and 11–15 years, respectively, mean value of body weight (BW), and mean life time were used for the calculation of EDI (Table 6). The daily burden of As from drinking water is a better index for the estimation of As exposure, expressed in mg/kg of body weight/day (Table 6). The intake of AsT through hand pumps water by the community of the study districts exceeded 2 to 340 times than the WHO permissible limit (10 μg/L) for AsT in drinking water [45]. Thus, the children were at risk as reported in literature that the increased prevalence of skin diseases has been observed even at the exposure levels in the range of 5–10 μg/L As in drinking waters [60, 61]. The HQ and CR values, calculated on the bases of EDI, have been summarized in Table 6. As estimated daily intake of tAs, the average HQ values for children of age group 6– 10 years belonging to Hyderabad, Sukkur, Naushehro Firoze, Nawabshah, and Dadu districts were 0.23, 1.69, 0.99, 1.92, and 5.91, respectively, while the mean CR values for Hyderabad, Sukkur, Naushehro Firoze, Nawabshah, and Dadu districts were estimated as 0.001, 0.008, 0.004, 0.009, and 0.0236, respectively. Whereas in elder age group (11–

15 years), belonging to Hyderabad, Sukkur, Naushehro Firoze, Nawabshah, and Dadu districts, the HQ and R were calculated as (0.26, 1.64, 0.96, 1.86, and 4.79) and (0.001, 0.007, 0.004, 0.008, and 0.0196), respectively. On the bases of these findings, the children of both age groups consuming hand pumps water of Dadu and Nawabshah districts, Sindh, Pakistan, have high risk for chronic toxicity of As, which was indicated by HQ values >1. The estimated CR index values shows that cancer risk was in order of Dadu > Nawabshah > Sukkur > Naushehro Firoze > Hyderabad districts. According to US EPA standards, the guidelines value is less than or equal to one in a million (1xE-06) [22, 36, 43]. Thus, the high CR values in studied districts indicated that the children of both age group were at the risks of different cancer in future. The CR index of study area was higher than those reported by Muhammad et al. (2010) for drinking water in Kohistan region, northern Pakistan, and consistent with Karim (2000) and Nguyen et al. (2009) for drinking water in Bangladesh and Vietnam, respectively [36, 44, 62]. The results of water in Dadu district showed that water has high level of As contamination and is not safe for drinking and other domestic uses. The clinical investigations indicate that chronic As toxicity induces harmfully to various organs of the human [34, 63]. The examined subjects belonging to Sukkur, Naushehro Firoze, and Nawabshah districts have no remarkable dermatological symptoms while in elder children belonging to Dadu district have raindrop pigmentation on the face, palms of the hands, and soles of the feet. Some chronic symptoms, such as cramps in the leg muscles, breathing, and gastrointestinal problems, were also observed. While younger group of children of Dadu district have only rough and dry skin. Due to high rate of illiteracy (90 %) with remarkable poverty, the parents of studied children belonging to Dadu district used some ancestral customs for treating any sickness using traditional treatments. Skin lesions are one of the most common

ED

365 17.0 2738 5.74E-04 7.06E-04 8.81E-04 0.19

0.23 0.29 8.60E-04 1.06E-03 1.32E-03

Mean Max. Min. Mean Max.

0.008 0.010 7.5

Mean Max. Years

Days kg Days Min. Mean Max. Min.

0.0065

Min.

0.26 0.33 9.75E-04 1.20E-03 1.50E-03

365 20.0 4563 6.50E-04 8.00E-04 9.98E-04 0.21

0.06 0.098 12.5

0.026

2.0

1.69 2.77 3.34E-03 7.68E-03 12.5E-03

365 17.5 2738 2.23E-03 5.14E-03 8.42E-03 0.73

0.035 0.051 7.5

0.018

1.5

1.64 2.69 3.24E-03 7.47E-03 12.2E-03

365 24.0 4563 2.17E-3 5.00E-3 8.18E-3 0.71

0.068 0.085 12.5

0.052

2.0

11–15 years

0.99 1.43 2.31E-03 4.49E-03 6.48E-03

365 17.5 2738 1.54E-03 3.00E-03 4.34E-03 0.51

0.167 0.345 7.5

0.063

1.5

6–10 years

0.96 1.39 2.25E-03 4.36E-03 6.31E-03

365 24.0 4563 1.50E-03 2.92E-03 4.22E-03 0.49

12.5

2.0

11–15 years

Naushehro Firoze

1.92 2.40 6.70E-03 8.71E-03 10.9E-03

365 17.5 2738 4.48E-03 5.83E-03 7.30E-03 1.47

7.5

1.5

6–10 years

Nawab Shah

1.86 2.34 6.52E-03 8.46E-03 10.6E-03

365 24.0 4563 4.36E-03 5.67 E-03 7.10E-03 1.43

12.5

2.0

11–15 years

IR intake rate, ED exposure duration, BW body weight, AT average age time, HQ hazard quotient, AT average time, ADD average daily intake dose, CR cancer risk

CR

HQ

EF BW AT ADD of AsT (mg/kg/day)

1.5

(L/day)

6–10 years

6–10 years

11–15 years

Sukkur

Hyderabad

Environmental risk assessment in different district of Sindh, Pakistan

IR AsT in Water (mg/L)

Table 6

5.91 12.16 1.02E-02 2.36E-02 4.26E-02

365 14.0 2738 6.80E-03 1.80E-02 3.70E-02 2.24

7.5

1.5

6–10 years

Dadu

4.79 9.87 0.86E-02 1.96E-02 3.62 E-02

365 23.0 4563 5.52E-03 1.46E-02 3.00E-02 1.82

12.5

2.0

11–15 years


Baig et al.

features of chronic As poisoning, and these symptoms are used as a diagnostic criteria of endemic As poisoning in inner Mongolia, China, and other parts of world [5, 35, 37, 64, 65]. The ground water is a major source of drinking water in Pakistan (Pakistan; Strategic Country Environmental Assessment Report, 2006). However, several patients in Pakistan were suffering from water-related bacterial diseases such as typhoid, cholera, dysentery, and hepatitis [22, 66, 67]. Malnutrition and poor socioeconomic conditions of villagers of the understudied area make worse the hazards of As toxicity. Although arsenicosis is not an infectious, contagious, or hereditary disease, but it creates many social problems for the victims and their families [68]. Apparently, As contamination in groundwater presents significant threats to human health in the local communities of Sukkur, Naushehro Firoze, Nawabshah, and Dadu districts. Nevertheless, ground water has been widely used due to the lack of clean water resources in Sukkur, Naushehro Firoze, Nawabshah, and Dadu districts. However, other water sources in studied districts were inadequate for the execution of the local driking water demands. All these facts demonstrated that the chronic As poisoning is due to chronic administration of high concentration of As through contaminated ground water. Immediate stoppage of As contaminated drinking water and the intake of As safe drinking water are the precondition for the management of chronic As poisoning.

and rainwater harvesting may also be explored, with measures against bacterial and other chemical contaminants. Additionally, generating awareness about the As problem and adequate supply of As-safe water to the affected population is required. It is clear that urgent action is needed now to prevent further children exposure to As in study area. Acknowledgments The authors are grateful for the partial financial support of the Nationalal Centre of Excellence in Analytical Chemistry (NCEAC), Jamshoro and Young Welfare Society (YWS) Sindh, Pakistan. The authors would like to thank to YWS Sindh, Pakistan for their help in sampling with contection of local NGOs.

References 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Conclusion 6.

It has been concluded that the major non-occupational contributors to elevated scalp hair As levels in children of Sukkur, Naushehro Firoze, Nawabshah, and Dadu districts are due to As contaminated ground water. It appears to be creating deleterious effects on the health of elder age group. The positive linear regressions showed As concentrations in water versus SH of boys and girls of age 11–15 years were higher than As levels in water versus SH of boys and girls of age 6–10 years. While the As contents in boys of 11–15 years were found higher as compared to the girls of same age group. This could be attributed to higher sensitivity of children to the As, might be due to their large surface-area-to volume ratios, which enhanced uptake of As from drinking water. Clinical complications of arsenicosis including skin disorders and other features such as weakness and muscles cramps, respiratory problems, anemia, and gastrointestinal problems were observed among the children of Dadu district. So, it is concluded that the groundwater of Dadu district is not suitable for drinking and cooking. However, it can be utilized for other domestic uses. Thus, mitigation strategy needs to be location specific, depending on the availability of As-safe options. Other alternative safe water options such as surface water, deep dug-wells,

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