Toxicologia Ambiental e Analítica

Prevalence of High Arsenic Concentration in Darbhanga District of Bihar: Health Assessment

Abstract

Abhinav A, Sneha Navin, Arun Kumar, Ranjit Kumar, Mohammad Ali, Shishir Kumar Verma and Ashok Kumar Ghosh

Background: Arsenic (As) in the groundwater is widely recognised as a global threat to human health. Millions of people from different countries including India are heavily dependent on groundwater containing elevated levels of arsenic for both drinking and irrigation purposes. Bihar and West Bengal located within the Middle-Gangetic plain (MGP), are the two worst arsenic exposed states in India. Today it is estimated that more than 5 million people in the Bihar state are drinking water with arsenic concentration greater than permissible limit of 10 μg/L recommended by World Health Organisation. In the present study, four villages Paghari, Habidih situated under Baheri block and Parri, Bairampur situated under Biraul block of Darbhanga districts of Bihar was taken up for the groundwater arsenic and blood arsenic estimation. The arsenic causing health related problems were also evaluated in the rural population.

Methods: Altogether 48 groundwater samples from Hand Tube Wells (HTWs) of four different villages (12 groundwater samples from each village) were randomly collected for arsenic estimation and 48 blood samples were collected from the subject of the same household for blood arsenic estimation (12 blood samples from each village). Assessment of health related problems due to arsenic poisoning was also carried out in this study.

Results: The highest arsenic concentration in groundwater was found to be 911 μg/L in Paghari village of Baheri block while in blood sample it was 252 μg/L observed from the same household in the Paghari village. The typical arsenicosis symptoms like hyperkeratosis in the palm and sole, melanosis of the skin and few cases of cancer were also reported among the population.

Conclusions: The present study thus, concludes that there was high arsenic concentration in the groundwater of four villages of Darbhanga district. Presence of arsenic in the blood samples indicates as a biomarker of arsenic exposure. Arsenic poisoning has caused severe health related problems in these population. Therefore, a proper strategy is urgently required to mitigate the groundwater arsenic contamination and minimize the severity of the arsenic poisoning in these villages.