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Arsenic exposure through groundwater to the rural and urban population inthe Allahabad-Kanpur track in the upper Ganga plain†

Dipankar Chakraborti,* Swapan Kumar Ghorai, Bhaskar Das, Arup Pal, Bishwajit Nayak and Babar Ali Shah

Received 1st April 2009, Accepted 22nd June 2009

First published as an Advance Article on the web 25th June 2009

DOI: 10.1039/b906584a

This preliminary study reports for the first time that part of the rural

population in the Allahabad district and the urban population in the

Suklaganj-Kanpur of Unnao district in the Allahabad-Kanpur track

of the upper Ganga plain are drinking and using for agricultural

irrigation arsenic contaminated water (maximum arsenic concen-

trations in drinking water and urine are 707 and 1744 mg L�1

respectively) mostly from shallow hand tube-wells (depth 7.5–40 m)

without knowing that these are arsenic contaminated.

Introduction

From the source of origin (Gongotri-glacier) of the Ganga River to

the estuary via the Bengal delta in the Bay of Bengal, the landscape

of the Ganges is divided into three segments. The upper Ganges

covers the area from the Gongotri glacier to Haridwar city in the state

of Uttarakhand. The middle Ganga is from Haridwar city to

Jharkhand state via the states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. The state

of West Bengal including the Sundarbans in the Bengal delta is called

the lower Ganga (Fig. 1). The Ganga river plain is divided into three

sectors and includes 5 states in India [Uttarakhand (area 53483 km2,

population 8.5 million); Uttar Pradesh (area 243286 km2, population

190 million); Bihar (area 94163 km2, population 82.8 million);

Jharkhand (area 79700 km2, population 26.91 million); West Bengal

(area 88750 km2, population 80.2 million)]. The upper Ganga plain

starts from Haridwar city and ends in Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh.

The middle Ganga plain starts after Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh and

ends at Jharkhand state including Bihar state. The lower Ganga plain

covers the state of West Bengal (Fig. 1).

As the source of arsenic is the Himalaya Mountain and the Tibet

Plateau, the flood plains of all the rivers that originated from those

sources are expected to be arsenic contaminated.1 From our

groundwater arsenic contamination study in the Ganga plain for the

last 21 years, we noticed that the overall groundwater arsenic

concentration increases from the upper plain to the middle and to the

lower plain. The first groundwater arsenic contamination and its

health effects from the district of North-24 Parganas in the lower

Ganga plain of West Bengal was reported in 1984.2 We reported in

1994 that 37 blocks in six districts of West Bengal in the lower Ganga

plain were arsenic affected.3 Our recent report4 on groundwater

School of Environmental Studies, Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India.E-mail: dcsoesju@vsnl.com; Fax: +91 33 2414 6266; Tel: +91 33 24146233

† Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available: Determinationof total arsenic in contaminated groundwater after KBrO3 oxidation;use of field-kit for arsenic determination based on the MercuricBromide Stain Method. See DOI: 10.1039/b906584a

This journal is ª The Royal Society of Chemistry 2009

arsenic contamination all over West Bengal (total 19 districts) shows

107 blocks in 9 districts are highly arsenic affected; 5 districts mildly

affected and 5 districts non-affected. We discovered groundwater

arsenic contamination and studied its health effects in the states of

Jharkhand, Bihar and up to Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh in the middle

Ganga plain.5,6 On this basis we were expecting ground water arsenic

contamination in the Allahabad-Kanpur track and further in the

upper Ganga plain. Although in a survey to find arsenic contami-

nation in Uttar Pradesh, 20126 hand tube-wells were analyzed,7 no

arsenic groundwater contamination from the Allahabad district and

minute contamination from the Unnao and Kanpur Nagar districts

was reported [15 samples above 10 mg L�1 and three samples above

50 mg L�1 in the Unnao district (N ¼ 1126) and from the Kanpur

Nagar district three samples above 10 mg L�1 and one sample above

50 mg L�1 (N ¼ 357). In this communication we report for the first

time the arsenic exposure through contaminated hand tube-wells and

the presence of elevated levels of arsenic in the urine of a group of

people we studied in the Allahabad-Kanpur track in the upper Ganga

plain. Available safe water sources in contaminated areas have also

been discussed.

Experimental

For analysis of total arsenic [AsIII + AsV] in hand tube-well water

samples we used KBrO3 oxidation in acid medium (details in the

ESI†) followed by Flow Injection Hydride Generation Atomic

Absorption Spectrophotometry (FI-HG-AAS) [Perkin Elmer Model

No. 3100]. A sum of total arsenic metabolites in urine (AsIII + AsV +

MMA + DMA) was also measured by FI-HG-AAS.8 The arsenic of

arsenobetain in urine does not form the hydride in our experimental

conditions.8 Details of the instrumentation, analysis, procedures of

water and urine sample collection, and preservation were described in

an earlier publication.8 Before bulk samples were collected from hand

tube-wells from an area for laboratory analysis, we used an arsenic

field kit (EZ Arsenic Field Kit, Hach, USA) to record the preliminary

information of arsenic contamination in some samples of that area

(details on the Field Kit are in the ESI†). The accuracy of our

analytical method using FI-HG-AAS was verified by analyzing

standard reference materials [Water SRM (quality control sample for

trace metal analysis) from the US Environmental Protection Agency,

Environmental Monitoring Laboratory, Cincinnati, Ohio (Certified

value 17.6 � 2.21 mg L�1, observed value 16 � 3.5 mg L�1) (N ¼ 5);

Urine SRM 2670, NIST, USA (elevated level) (certified value 480 �100 mg L�1; observed value 435 � 15 mg L�1) (N ¼ 5)]. Latitude and

longitude of hand tube-wells were recorded by a GPS (GARMIN

eTREX VISTA).

In our preliminary survey with an arsenic field kit we could identify

some hand tube-wells in the following villages (with block) having

J. Environ. Monit., 2009, 11, 1455–1459 | 1455

Fig. 1 Locations of the arsenic affected districts in the lower and middle Ganga plain: (a) urban area of Suklaganj-Kanpur, Unnao district, (b) rural

area of Lilapur-Kalan, Allahabad district.

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arsenic above 50 mg L�1 in the Allahabad district (village – Shapur,

block – Kunda; village – Dhokra and Lilapur-Kalan, block –

Bahadurpur; village – Malikpur, block – Nababganj; village –

Fathupur, block – Kariahara). Out of these villages the field kit

indicated more arsenic contamination in hand tube-wells in the

1456 | J. Environ. Monit., 2009, 11, 1455–1459

Lilapur-Kalan village and so we collected 89 samples covering the

whole village and brought the samples back to our laboratory for

FI-HG-AAS analysis. The population of the Lilapur-Kalan village is

approximately 5000 (Fig. 1b). Similarly in the Unnao district we

found villages Budhay-Purba, Babra-Purba and Poni in the

This journal is ª The Royal Society of Chemistry 2009

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Gangaghat block; villages Ratirampur-Purba, Tribhuban-Khara and

Rosbo-Khara in the Sikandarpur block; village Laksmi-Khera in the

Sarosi Sikandarpur block; village Ratirampur in the Achalaganj

block and also in the densely populated Suklaganj-Kanpur urban

area in the Unnao district having arsenic >50 mg L�1. The field kit

data showed more arsenic contamination in the Suklaganj-Kanpur

urban area of the Unnao district. So we collected 175 hand tube-well

water samples from the Suklaganj-Kanpur urban area of the Unnao

district and brought the samples to our laboratory for FI-HG-AAS

analysis. The locations we covered in the Suklaganj-Kanpur urban

area are Purani Bazar, Misra Colony, Rishi Nagar, Ananda Nagar,

Subash Gram, Kanchan Nagar (Fig. 1a). These locations are close to

the Ganga River and are densely populated. Moreover, there are

some temples in this area and thousands of people come everyday to

worship and they drink water from road side hand tube-wells. The

approximate number of people drinking water from hand tube-wells

in this area could be about 50000 per day. Although in this area there

are some municipality tap connections, local people said they do not

drink that water for quality reasons and most people drink hand

tube-well water. To know whether villagers of Lilapur-Kalan were

drinking arsenic contaminated water or not, we collected urine

samples from 44 adults and children including 32 samples from seven

families. We also analyzed hand tube-well water from those seven

families by FI-HG-AAS. We could not collect urine samples from the

Suklaganj-Kanpur area due to the poor response of the residents.

We also collected water from four irrigation tube-wells farmers

were using in their agricultural fields of the Allahabad district. During

our water sample collection we also collected the information of the

age and depth of the tube-wells to find out how long villagers are

drinking arsenic contaminated water and whether arsenic concen-

tration of tube-wells varies with depth.

Fig. 2 Correlation between arsenic concentration in drinking water and

urine in seven families studied from the Lilapur-Kalan village, Allahabad

district.

Result and discussion

Table 1 shows the distribution of arsenic concentration in hand tube-

wells in the rural Lilapur-Kalan village in the Allahabad district and

the urban Suklaganj-Kanpur of the Unnao district. From Table 1 it

appears that in the Lilapur-Kalan village 66% of hand tube-wells

contain arsenic above the WHO guideline value of 10 mg L�1 and 53%

above 50 mg L�1, the Indian standard for arsenic in drinking water.

Moreover 4.5% samples contain arsenic above 300 mg L�1, the

concentration predicting overt arsenical skin lesions. The arsenic

contamination situation of the Lilapur-Kalan village is quite high.

The Suklaganj-Kanpur urban area is less arsenic contaminated

compared to the Lilapur-Kalan rural area (Table 1). However, this is

a preliminary study and the final arsenic groundwater contamination

situation in these two areas would be revealed only after a detailed

study. We have also identified some villages in other blocks in

Table 1 Distribution of arsenic concentration in the collected hand tubeSuklaganj-Kanpur, Unnao district

Studyarea Min Max. <¼3 4–10 >10 11–50

Lilapur-Kalan(N ¼ 89)

<¼3 707 27 (30%) 3 (3%) 59 (66%) 12 (13.5%

Shuklagunj-Kanpur(N ¼ 175)

<¼3 333 75 (43%) 31 (18%) 69 (39%) 37 (21%)

This journal is ª The Royal Society of Chemistry 2009

Allahabad and Unnao districts (as mentioned in the ‘Experimental’

section) where hand tube-wells had arsenic >50 mg L�1. We collected

GPS readings for 15 and 26 hand tube-wells from the Suklagunj-

Kanpur and Lilapur-Kalan respectively in order to get the exact

location of some of the contaminated hand tube-wells. We strongly

feel in future these GPS readings would help others to identify the

exact locations of contamination. Fig. 1a and 1b show their locations

and the arsenic concentration of some of the tube-wells having

arsenic concentration >50 mg L�1.

The elevated level of inorganic arsenic and its metabolites in urine

(normal level6 of arsenic in urine is 5–40 mg 1.5L�1 day�1) is an indi-

cation of recent inorganic arsenic exposure. We analyzed 44 urine

samples [11 adult male, 16 adult female and 17 children (up to

16 years)]. All the urine samples contained arsenic above the normal

level (range: 36–1744 mg L�1, mean: 396 � 363 mg L�1, median:

318 mg L�1). Fig. 2 shows results of seven families drinking arsenic

contaminated water (range: 111–707 mg L�1) along with arsenic in

urine. The result show a good correlation of arsenic in drinking water

and arsenic in urine. Our previous study also validates the present

finding.6

Groundwater is widely used for agriculture in Uttar Pradesh. Out

of the four shallow irrigation tube-wells from the Allahabad district

we analyzed, three contained arsenic above 50 mg L�1 (52, 56 and

190 mg L�1). Thus it is possible that in many fields arsenic contami-

nated water is used for agricultural irrigation. Our recent study in

West Bengal shows9 that in arsenic affected villages, villagers may be

additionally exposed to arsenic due to the contamination of crops.

Out of 89 hand tube-wells we analyzed from the rural village

Lilapur-Kalan, we could get the information of the year of boring for

-well samples from the Lilapur-Kalan village, Allahabad district and

>50 51–100 101–200 201–300 ¼>300 301–400 >400

) 47 (53%) 18 (20%) 22 (25%) 3 (3%) 4 (4.5%) 2 (2%) 2 (2%)

32 (18%) 13 (7%) 12 (7%) 3 (2%) 4 (2%) 4 (2%)

J. Environ. Monit., 2009, 11, 1455–1459 | 1457

Fig. 3 Arsenic concentration vs depth of the tube-wells surveyed from

(a) Lilapur-Kalan village, Allahabad district and (b) Suklaganj-Kanpur,

Unnao district.

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79 hand tube-wells. It is found that during the last 5 years 86% hand

tube-wells were installed and only 2.5% hand tube-wells are more

than 10 years old. Thus the tube-well culture in the Lilapur-Kalan

village started during the last 5 years. Since Suklaganj-Kanpur is an

urban area, many tube-wells are old. From the Suklaganj-Kanpur

urban area we have age information of 164 tube-wells out of 175.

During the last 5 years 35% of total tube-wells (N¼ 164) were sunk.

We were able to get hold of the depth information of 80 tube-wells

from the Lilapur-Kalan village out of 89 we analyzed and 94% of

those 80 tube-wells are shallow tube-wells in the depth range 15–35 m.

Only two hand tube-wells are deep (76 and 91 m) (Fig. 3a) and these

two tube-wells are arsenic safe. Thus we expect if Lilapur-Kalan

villagers install deep tube-wells of more than 100 m they may get

arsenic safe water.

For the Suklaganj-Kanpur urban area of the Unnao district we

have the depth information of 149 tube-wells out of 175 and 90% of

the total tube-wells are in the depth range 7–18 m. Many of these

tube-wells [29 out of 134 (22%)] had arsenic >50 mg L�1. But all

10 tube-wells between depth 30 and 36 m are arsenic safe with respect

to Indian Standards for arsenic and 7 tube-wells are below the

WHO Guideline value of 10 mg L�1 [maximum arsenic concentration

38 mg L�1 (Fig. 3b)]. We could not get water samples from any tube-

well more than 36 m deep. The local people said that the tube-wells

with higher depth are not suitable for drinking due to salinity. So it

could be if the residents install tube-wells between 30 and 36 m they

may get arsenic safe water in this region.

Conclusion

Traditionally villagers in the Ganga plain used Ganges water, big

diameter dug-wells, and ponds, lakes for drinking and household

purposes. During the last 50 years, due to the excessive use of

fertilizers, pesticides for agriculture, chemical discharge from indus-

tries and discharge of human excreta, the traditional sources have

1458 | J. Environ. Monit., 2009, 11, 1455–1459

become unsuitable for human consumption. In these circumstances

villagers were advised to drink underground water from hand tube-

wells which are available in plenty in the Ganga plain. The villagers at

the beginning were reluctant to use it but they were advised that this

underground water would bring good health and a green revolution.

At this moment villagers in the Ganga flood plain prefer under-

ground water as it is available even at about 8–10 m depth and it is

lukewarm in winter and cold in summer. Moreover almost round the

year they can use the water for agriculture and the cost of installation

of a hand tube-well of shallow depth is almost US$50. Consequently

hand tube-wells are mushrooming in the Ganga flood plain without

following any rules and regulations. In the Lilapur-Kalan village 86%

of the tube-wells were sunk during the last five years. Although many

people of the Lilapur-Kalan village are drinking arsenic contami-

nated water, in our preliminary survey we did not notice people with

arsenical skin lesions. The cause of this could be their arsenic expo-

sure is recent (60% of tube-wells were installed during the last three

years). However, we may expect arsenic patients if they continue to

drink arsenic contaminated water for a longer period. This is also true

for the urban area of Suklaganj-Kanpur of the Unnao district.

Recently it has been reported10 that exposure to arsenic in drinking

water during early childhood or in utero has pronounced pulmonary

effects greatly increasing subsequent mortality in young adults from

both malignant and non-malignant lung diseases. Another report11

writes that life time risk of dying from cancer (lung, kidney or

bladder) while drinking 1 L of water per day with 50 mg L�1 of arsenic

is 1.3 in 100. Thus it appears that the arsenic affected areas in the

Allahabad-Kanpur track in the upper Ganga plain need immediate

attention and a permanent arsenic safe water source should be

arranged.

How the villagers in the affected areas can getimmediately arsenic safe source of water from theirexisting water sources?

By adopting the following procedures immediately, the villagers in

the Allahabad-Kanpur track can get arsenic safe water:

1) From Table 1, it appears that in the Lilapur-Kalan village in the

Allahabad district and Suklaganj area of the Kanpur district 34% and

61% hand tube-well water samples contain arsenic below 10 mg L�1

(WHO guideline value of arsenic in drinking water). Thus an easy

approach to provide villagers arsenic safe water for drinking and

cooking would be to colour the existing hand tube-wells green where

arsenic concentration is <10 mg L�1. Villagers can use these green

tube-wells for drinking and cooking. The tube-wells having arsenic

>10 mg L�1, would be coloured red and villagers can use them for

other household purposes. An awareness campaign among the

villagers is essential to inform them about the danger of drinking

arsenic contaminated water. However after every six months the safe

tube-well water samples should be checked for arsenic.

2) The villagers can use their existing arsenic safe traditional big

diameter dug-wells after proper bacteriological treatment. During the

last 10 years we analysed at least 500 big diameter dug-wells for

arsenic from the Ganga Meghna Brahmaputra (GMB) plain and

found none of them contained arsenic more than 50 mg L�1. In some

parts of Allahabad and Unnao districts we found villagers are still

using their traditional big diameter dug-wells. Alone in the area we

surveyed in Lilapur-Kalan there are about 25 such dug-wells and the

villagers are not using most of them. We also suggest construction of

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concrete monolithic dug-wells of a higher depth (around 15 m) at

a safe distance from a sanitary soak pit and preferably close to ponds,

lakes and rivers (where it is possible) so that the above sources could

be the source of water in the dug-well through the process of slow

sand bed filtration. Then, after proper treatment these dug-wells can

be used for drinking and cooking. However, people’s participation is

needed to run and maintain such dug-wells successfully.

3) The hand tube-wells in the contaminated areas can also be used

as a safe source of water if an arsenic safe aquifer is available under

a thick clay barrier. In the Lilapur-Kalan village of the Allahabad

district, we expect such an arsenic safe aquifer below 70 m under

a thick clay barrier. This is available in the Varanasi district12 close to

the Allahabad district. In the Lilapur-Kalan village, hand tube-wells

depths >70 m (Fig. 3a) are arsenic safe.

4) In the Suklaganj-Kanpur urban area of the Unnao district deep

tube-wells above 70 m could be arsenic safe but due to salinity not

suitable for drinking. However tube-wells in the depth range 30–36 m

as discussed above (Fig. 3b) could provide arsenic safe source of

water for the time being.

We are planning to survey hand tube-wells arsenic contamination

from other blocks and villages in the Allahabad–Kanpur track where

we have already found arsenic >50 mg L�1 and also further north-east

of the upper Ganga plain.

Notes and references

1 B. Das, B. Nayak, A. Pal, S. Ahamed, M. A. Hossain,M. K. Sengupta, M. M. Rahman, S. Maity, K. C. Saha,D. Chakraborti, S. C. Mukherjee, A. Mukherjee, S. Pati,R. N. Dutta and Q. Quamruzzaman, in Groundwater for SustainableDevelopment- Problems, Perspectives and Challenges, ed.P. Bhattacharya, A. L. Ramanathan, J. Bundschuh, A. K. Keshari

This journal is ª The Royal Society of Chemistry 2009

and C. Chandrasekharn, Balkema Book, Taylor & Francis, 2008,pp. 257–269.

2 R. Garai, A. K. Chakraborty, S. B. Dey and K. C. Saha, J. IndianMed. Assoc., 1984, 82(1), 34–35.

3 D. Das, A. Chatterjee, G. Samanta, B. Mandal, T. Roychowdhury,G. Samanta, P. P. Chowdhury, C. Chanda, G. Basu, D. Lodh,S. Nandi, T. Chakraborty, S. Mandal, S. M. Bhattacharya andD. Chakraborti, Analyst, 1994, 168N–170N.

4 D. Chakraborti, B. Das, M. M. Rahman, U. K. Chowdhury,B. Biswas, A. B. Goswami, B. Nayak, A. Pal, M. K. Sengupta,S. Ahamed, M. A. Hossain, G. Basu, T. Roychowdhury andD. Das, Mol. Nutr. Food Res., 2009, 53, 542–551.

5 D. Chakraborti, M. K. Sengupta, M. M. Rahman, S. Ahamed,U. K. Chowdhury, M. A. Hossain, S. C. Mukherjee, S. Pati,K. C. Saha, R. N. Dutta and Q. Quamruzzaman, J. Environ.Monit., 2004, 6, 74N–83N.

6 S. Ahamed, M. K. Sengupta, A. Mukherjee, M. A. Hossain, B. Das,B. Nayak, A. Pal, S. C. Mukherjee, S. Pati, R. N. Dutta,G. Chatterjee, A. Mukherjee, R. Srivastava and D. Chakraborti,Sci. Total Environ., 2006, 370, 310–322.

7 R. Nickson, C. Sengupta, P. Mitra, S. N. Dave, A. K. Banerjee,A. Bhattacharya, S. Basu, N. Kakoti, N. S. Moorthy, M. Wasuja,M. Kumar, D. S. Mistra, A. Ghosh, D. P. Vaish, A. K. Srivastava,R. M. Tripathy, S. N. Singh, R. Prasad, S. Bhattacharya andP. Deverill, Environ. Sci. Health Part A, 2007, 42, 1707–1718.

8 G. Samanta, T. R. Chowdhury, B. K. Mandal, B. K. Biswas,U. K. Chowdhury, G. Basu, C. R. Chanda, D. Lodh andD. Chakraborti, Microchem. J., 1999, 62, 174–191.

9 A. Pal, U. K. Chowdhury, D. Mondal, B. Das, B. Nayak, A. Ghosh,S. Maity and D. Chakraborti, Environ. Sci. Technol., 2009, 43(9),3349–3355.

10 A. H. Smith, G. Marshall, Y. Yuan, C. Ferreccio, J. Liaw,O. von Ehrenstein, C. Steinmaus, M. Bates and S. Selvin,Environ. Health Perspec., 2006, 114(8), 1293–1296.

11 A. H. Smith, M. L. Biggs, L. Moore, R. Haque, C. Steinmaus,J. Chung, A. Hernandez and P. Lopepero, in Arsenic Exposureand Health Effects, ed. W. R. Chappell, C. O. Abernathy andR. L. Calderon, Elesvier Science, Oxford, UK, 1999, pp. 191–200.

12 U. K. Shukla and J. Raju, J. Earth Syst. Sci., 2008, 117(4), 489–498.

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