Evaluation of heavy metals toxicity in the groundwater of some villages of Sirsa district of Haryana, India

Abstract

An attempt was made to assess the groundwater quality in some rural parts of Sirsa district of Haryana, India with respect to heavy metals contamination. For this purpose, 23 groundwater samples were collected from the bore wells during pre-monsoon in 2017 from some selected locations in the study area where the groundwater is used for drinking and agricultural activities. The samples have been analyzed for seven heavy metals viz. Mn, As, Zn, Cd, Pb, Cu and Cr using ICP-MS. The results were compared with the BIS standards to assess the suitability of groundwater for drinking. To assess the heavy metal contamination, the heavy metal pollution index (HPI), metal index (MI) and hazard index (HI) was calculated. The groundwater with HI > 1 falls in the high pollution category. In our study, 10 out of 23 samples were not fit to consume by the infants and all the 23 samples were found to be unfit for both the children and the adults. The correlation matrix showed a good correlation of HPI with Mn (r = 0.998), As (r = 0.993), Cu (r = 0.998), Cr (r = 0.998) and with Pb (r = 0.998) whereas the correlation of MI with Mn (r = 0.998), As (r = 0.994), Cu (r = 0.998), Cr (r = 0.999) and with Pb (r = 0.998).