Phan Kim Anh and Nguyen Thanh Giao*
Abstract
Groundwater is one of the main sources for water supply for domestic use, irrigation, aquaculture and industry. With rapidly increasing in human population groundwater becomes more important for social and economic activities. This study is to evaluate the quality of groundwater using data from the eight monitoring wells over the period of 2009-2016. Human health risk was assessed for the population consuming groundwater contaminating arsenic. The findings indicated that groundwater wells in An Giang province were contaminated with microorganisms. The total dissolved solids (TDS) and hardness in Phu Tan and Cho Moi wells were significant higher than permissible level (QCVN 09-MT:2015/ BTNMT). In addition, groundwater wells in some small islands of An Giang were seriously contaminated with organic matters and arsenic. The mean arsenic concentration was up to 0.55 ± 1.21 mg/L. Estimation of carcinogenic risk for human population showed that the cancer risks ranged from medium (8.66 × 10-4) to high (8.26 × 10-2) for both children and adults. Alternative water supply sources should be offered for the population at risk. Regular health check is essential for local people in the arsenic contaminated groundwater.
Keywords
Carcinogenic risk; Groundwater; Arsenic; Health risk assessment
