Abstract
Assessing groundwater geochemical formation processes and pollution circumstances is significant for sustainable watershed management. In the present study, 58 shallow groundwater samples were taken from the Dongwen River Basin (DRB) to comprehensively assess the hydrochemical sources, groundwater quality status, and potential risks of NO3– to human health. Based on the Box and Whisker plot, the cation’s concentration followed the order of Ca2+ > Mg2+ > Na+ > K+, while anions’ mean levels were HCO3− > SO42− > NO3− > Cl−. The NO3− level in groundwater samples fluctuated between 4.2 and 301.3 mg/L, with 67.2% of samples beyond the World Health Organization (WHO) criteria (50 mg/L) for drinking. The Piper diagram indicated the hydrochemical type of groundwater and surface water were characterized as Ca·Mg-HCO3 type. Combining ionic ratio analysis with principal component analysis (PCA) results, agricultural activities contributed a significant effect on groundwater NO3−, with soil nitrogen input and manure/sewage inputs also potential sources. However, geogenic processes (e.g., carbonates and evaporite dissolution/precipitation) controlled other ion compositions in the study area. The groundwater samples with higher NO3− values were mainly found in river valley regions with intense anthropogenic activities. The entropy weight water quality index (EWQI) model identified that the groundwater quality rank ranged from excellent (70.7%) and good (25.9%) to medium (3.4%). However, the hazard quotient (HQ) used in the human health risk assessment (HHRA) model showed that above 91.38% of groundwater samples have a NO3− non-carcinogenic health risk for infants, 84.48% for children, 82.76% for females, and 72.41% for males. The findings of this study could provide a scientific basis for the rational development and usage of groundwater resources as well as for the preservation of the inhabitants' health in DRB.
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Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to our colleagues and graduate students for their help in data collection and fieldwork. Special thanks to the editor and anonymous reviewers for their critical comments and valuable suggestions in the present form.
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This study was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2020YFD0900703); the Postgraduate Research & Practice Innovation Program of Jiangsu Province (KYCX23_0737) and the Anhui Provincial Natural Science Foundation (2208085US09).
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Shou Wang: Methodology, Investigation, Sample collection, Data curation, Writing–original draft. Jing Chen: Resources, Supervision, Funding acquisition, Project administration. Shuxuan Zhang: Methodology, Writing–review & editing, Sample collection. Yanjie Bai: Investigation, Software, Formal Analysis, Methodology. Xiaoyan Zhang: Investigation, Sample collection. Dan Chen: Investigation. Hao Tong: Sample collection. Bingxiao Liu: Sample collection. Jiahong Hu: Data collection, Formal analysis. All authors read and approved the final draft.
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Wang, S., Chen, J., Zhang, S. et al. Hydrogeochemical characterization, quality assessment, and potential nitrate health risk of shallow groundwater in Dongwen River Basin, North China. Environ Sci Pollut Res 31, 19363–19380 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-024-32426-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-024-32426-7