Water quality index and health risk assessment for heavy metals in groundwater of Kashiani and Kotalipara upazila, Gopalganj, Bangladesh

Abstract The groundwater quality of the Gopalganj district in Bangladesh was not well documented. Therefore, this research was done to determine the groundwater quality in the study area. The water quality index and the human health risk for heavy metal ingestion were used to describe the water quality. The water quality was performed through the estimation of turbidity, pH, electrical conductivity, total dissolved solids, and concentration of sodium, potassium, ammonium, nitrate, iron, manganese, zinc, copper, and arsenic. The mean turbidity, pH, and total dissolved solids in the two upazila were within the permissible limit. However, the electrical conductivity in both the upazila was higher than the WHO-prescribed value in which the higher concentration was in Kotalipara. Excess concentrations of iron and arsenic were found in the Kashiani upazila, but these were below the detection limit in Kotalipara upazila. The water quality index revealed that roughly 61.0% of samples of Kashiani upazila were of poor quality. However, about 96.0% of samples of Kotalipara upazila were of excellent quality. Chronic health risks due to the revelation of drinking have also been determined by assessing the hazard quotient and hazard index. In Kashiani, almost 85.0% of samples were elevated chronic risks for adults and 100.0% of the samples were very high chronic risks for children. In Kotalipara, all the samples (almost 100%) were suggested to have a lower chronic risk for adults and children. The results suggested that the carcinogenic risk of arsenic via oral exposure was very high for both adults and children in Kashiani upazila.