Extent of anthropogenic influence on groundwater quality and human health-related risks: an integrated assessment based on selected physicochemical characteristics

Abstract

The majority of people living on earth rely on groundwater as their primary supply of water for daily needs. However, human activities continuously threaten this natural resource. In an attempt to unravel the extent of the impact of human-related activities on groundwater physicochemical characteristics in Nnewi and Awka urban clusters (Nigeria), several techniques were integrated in this study. Groundwater samples were warm and acidic in nature. Concentrations of SO42-, NO3-, PO43-, Cl-, HCO3-, Ca2+, Mg2+, Na+ and K+ were within set benchmarks. The water nutrient pollution index (ranging from 0.060 to 0.745), nitrate pollution index (varying between −0.999 and −0.790) and water pollution index (ranging from 0.057 to 0.630) estimated the extent of anthropogenic contamination and showed low anthropogenic impact on the groundwater physicochemical characteristics. The health risks due to the ingestion and skin absorption of the nitrate-contaminated water computed for six age groups (6–12 months, 5–10 years, 10–15 years, 15–20 years, 20–60 years and >60 years) showed health risk values that were < 1, implying low chronic health risks to humans. The cumulative total health hazard index ranged between 0.006 and 0.787 with a mean value of 0.167. Chemometric analyses and geochemical plots revealed the relationships between the variables and contamination sources. Chadha’s plot showed that 55% of the samples were Ca2+-Mg2+-Cl- waters, predominating over Na+-Cl- and Ca2+-Mg2+-HCO3- waters. Bivariate and multivariate geochemical plots also indicated low anthropogenic impact. Furthermore, principal component analysis and R-type hierarchical clustering confirmed that the groundwater chemistry and quality were mostly influenced by geogenic processes than human-related acts. Conclusively, the extent of anthropogenic influence on groundwater physicochemical characteristics is low. These findings would be useful in future monitoring of groundwater in both urban clusters.