Hydro-chemical characterization of groundwater and evaluation of health risk assessment for fluoride contamination areas in the eastern blocks of Purulia district, India

Purulia is a hard rock terrain where water scarcity as well as water quality degradation has been a major threat for the past few decades. The prolong use of fluoride contaminated groundwater causes serious health issues in human. The study was performed during the post-monsoon period for better understanding of the general geochemistry along with the fluoride contamination of groundwater and analysis of the health risk factor for the local dwellers. The physico-chemical parameters were analysed during the field work and rest in the laboratory using the standard procedures. The statistical mean values of the cations Ca+2; Na+; Mg+2; K+; and Fe+2 are 91.53, 42.3, 31.76, 3.58 and 0.93 mg/l and for anions HCO3−, Cl−, SO4−, NO3− and F− are 231.67, 106.81, 82.83, 31.52 and 4.06 mg/l, respectively. Fluoride is one of the important trace elements in groundwater, and the value ranges from 1.30 to 7 mg/l with an average of 4.06 mg/l in the study region. According to the piper plot, the water type is 80% Ca–HCO3, 19% mixed CaMgCl and 1% CaCl type. Gibbs diagram indicates that the rock–water interaction is the most dominating mechanism prevailing in this region. The health risk assessment is revealed based upon the values of hazard quotient for ingestion (HQin) and dermal pathway (HQde) for the different age groups. The results from the research show that 6–12 months babies are more exposed to health risk through direct consumption of contaminated water in the study region.