Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Geochemistry and mobilization of arsenic in Shuklaganj area of Kanpur–Unnao district, Uttar Pradesh, India

  • Published:
Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The level of arsenic (As) contamination and the geochemical composition of groundwater in Shuklaganj area located on the banks of the Ganges Delta of Kanpur–Unnao district were elucidated. Samples (n = 59) were collected from both India Mark II hand pumps (depth, 30–33 m) and domestic hand pump tube wells (10–12 m) located within 5 km from the banks of Ganges. Samples were analyzed for various parameters, including total inorganic As, sulfate, nitrate, alkalinity, ammonia, and iron. Hydrochemistry of the groundwater aquifer was studied through the trilinear plots between monovalent and divalent cations and anions. In Indian mark II hand pumps, arsenic concentration ranged from below detection limit to 448 μg/L. Most of the samples contained both As(III) and As(V). The pH of the samples ranged from 7.1 to 8.2. Except for a few, most of the samples were reducing in nature as evident by their negative oxidation reduction potentials. A positive correlation for arsenic with iron, ammonia, and dissolved organic carbon shows the probability of biodegradation of organic matter and reductive dissolution of Fe oxyhydroxide processes to leach As in aquifers. For confirmation of the suggested arsenic mobilization mechanism, the presence and absence of sulfate-reducing bacteria and iron-reducing bacteria were also tested.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Acharyya, S. K. (1999). Arsenic poisoning in the Ganges Delta. Nature, 401, 545.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ahmed, K. M., Bhattacharya, P., Hasan, M. A., Akhter, S. H., Alam, S. M. M., & Bhuyian, M. A. H. (2004). Arsenic enrichment in groundwater of the alluvial aquifers in bangladesh: An overview. Applied Geochemistry, 19(2), 181–200.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Akai, J., Izumi, K., Fukuhara, H., Masuda, H., Nakano, S., & Yoshimura, T. (2004). Mineralogical and geomicrobiological investigations on groundwater arsenic enrichment in Bangladesh. Applied Geochemistry, 19(2), 215–230.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ansari, A. A., Singh, I. B., & Tobschall, H. J. (2002). Importance of geomorphology and sedimentation processes for metal dispersion in sediments and soils of the ganga plain: Identification of geochemical domains. Chemical Geology, 162(3–4), 245–266.

    Google Scholar 

  • APHA. (1998). Standard methods for water and wastewater (20th ed.). Washington: American Public Health Association.

    Google Scholar 

  • Appelo, C. A. J., & Postma, D. (2005). Geochemistry, groundwater and pollution (2nd ed.). Rotterdam: A.A. Bakelma.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • BGS/DPHE (2001). Arsenic contamination of groundwater in Bangladesh. In: Kinniburgh, D. G., Smedley, P. L. (Eds.), Final Report, BGS Technical Report WC/00/19. British Geological Survey, Keyworth, UK.

  • Bhattacharya, P., Chatterjee, D., & Jacks, G. (1997). Occurrence of arsenic-contaminated groundwater in alluvial aquifers from delta plains, Eastern India: Options for safe drinking water supply. International Journal of Water Resources Development, 13, 79–92.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bhattacharya, P., Jacks, G., Ahmed, K. M., Routh, J., & Khan, A. A. (2002). Arsenic in groundwater of the Bengal Delta plain aquifers in Bangladesh. Bulletin of Environment Contamination and Toxicology, 69(4), 538–545.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bhattacharya, P., Claesson, M., Bundschu, J., Srace, O., Fagerberg, J., & Jacks, G. (2006). Distribution and mobility of arsenic in the Río Dulce alluvial aquifers in Santiago del Estero province, Argentina. Science of the Total Environment, 358(1), 97–120.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Chakraborti, D., Ghorai, S. K., Das, B., Pal, A., Nayak, B., & Shah, B. A. (2009). Arsenic exposure through groundwater to the rural and urban population in the allahabad-kanpur track in the upper ganga plain\ supplementary informat. Journal of Environmental Monitoring, 11(8), 1455–1459.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chakraborti, D., Rahman, M. M., Chowdhury, U. K., Paul, K., Sengupta, M. K., & Lodh, D. (2002). Arsenic calamity in the Indian subcontinent: What lessons have been learned? Talanta, 58, 3–22.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Chauhan, V. S., Nickson, R. T., Chauhan, D., Iyengar, L., & Sankararamakrishnan, N. (2009). Ground water geochemistry of Ballia district, Uttar Pradesh, India and mechanism of arsenic release. Chemosphere, 75(1), 83–91.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Chowdhury, T. R., Basu, G. K., Mandal, B. K., Biswas, B. K., Samanta, G., & Chowdhury, U. K. (1999). Arsenic poisoning in the Ganges Delta. Nature, 401, 545–546.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dhar, R. K., Biswas, B. K., Samanta, G., Mandal, B. K., Chakraborti, D., Roy, S., et al. (1997). Groundwater arsenic calamity in Bangladesh. Current Science, 73(1), 48–59.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dixit, S., & Hering, J. G. (2003). Comparison of As(III) and As(V) sorption onto iron oxide minerals: Implications for arsenic mobility. Environment Science and Technology, 37, 4182–4189.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gao, Y., & Mucci, A. (2001). Acid base reactions, phosphate and arsenate complexation, and their competitive adsorption at the surface of goethite in 0.7 M NaCl solution. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 65, 2361–2378.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Garai, R., Chakraborty, A. K., Dey, S. B., & Saha, K. C. (1984). Chronic arsenic poisoning from tubewell water. Journal of the Indian Medical Association, 82(1), 34–35.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gowda, S. S., Reddy, R. M., & Govil, P. K. (2010). Assessment of heavy metal contamination in soils at Jajmau (Kanpur) and Unnao industrial areas of the Ganga Plain, Uttar Pradesh, India. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 174, 113–121.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guha, S., Raymahashay, B. C., Banerjee, A., Acharyya, S. K., & Gupta, A. (2005). Collection of depth specific ground water samples from an arsenic contaminated aquifer in West Bengal, India. Environmental Engineering Science, 22, 870–881.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Harvey, C. F., Swartz, C. H., Badruzzaman, A. B. M., Keon-Blute, N., Yu, W., Ali, M. A., et al. (2002). Arsenic mobility and groundwater extraction in Bangladesh. Science, 298, 1602–1606.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Harvey, C. F., Swartz, C. H., Badruzzaman, A. B. M., Keon-Blute, N., Yu, W., & Ali, M. A. (2005). Groundwater arsenic contamination on the Ganges Delta: Biogeochemistry, hydrology, human perturbations, and human suffering on a large scale. Comptes Rendus Geoscience, 337(2), 285–296.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kim, K., Kim, H., Choi, B., Kim, S., Park, K., & Park, E. (2008). Fe and Mn levels regulated by agricultural activities in alluvial groundwaters underneath a flooded paddy field. Applied Geochemistry, 23(1), 44–57.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kinniburgh, D. G., & Smedley, P. L. (2001). Arsenic contamination of groundwater in Bangladesh. Tech. Rep. WC/00/19. British Geological Survey, Keyworth.

  • Kumar, M., Kumar, P., Ramanathan, A. L., Bhattacharya, P., Thunvik, R., & Singh, U. K. (2010). Arsenic enrichment in groundwater in the middle Gangetic Plain of Ghazipur district in Uttar Pradesh, India. Journal of Geochemical Exploration, 105(3), 83–94.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lovley, D. R., & Chapelle, F. H. (1995). Deep subsurface microbial processes. Reviews of Geophysics, 33, 365–381.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lovley, D. R., & Phillips, E. J. P. (1988). Novel mode of microbial energy metabolism: Organic carbon oxidation coupled to dissimilatory reduction of iron or manganese. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 54(6), 1472–1480.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mallick, S., & Rajagopal, N. R. (1996). Groundwater development in the arsenic affected alluvial belt of West Bengal—Some questions. Current Science, 70, 956–958.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mandal, B. K., Chowdhury, T. R., Samanta, G., Mukherjee, D. P., Chanda, C. R., Saha, K. C., et al. (1998). Impact of safe water for drinking on five families for 2 years in West Bangal, India. Science of the Total Environment, 218, 185–201.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • McArthur, J. M., Ravenscroft, P., Safiullah, S., & Thirlwall, M. F. (2001). Arsenic in groundwater: Testing pollution mechanisms for sedimentary aquifer in Bangladesh. Water Resources Research, 37, 109–117.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • McArthur, J. M., Banerjee, D. M., Hudson-Edwards, K. A., Mishra, R., Purohit, R., Ravenscroft, P., et al. (2004). Natural organic matter in sedimentary basins and its relation to arsenic in anoxic ground water: The example of West Bengal and its worldwide implications. Applied Geochemistry, 19, 1255–1293.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mukherjee, A., & Fryar, A. E. (2008). Deeper groundwater chemistry and geochemical modeling of the arsenic affected western Bengal Basin, West Bengal, India. Applied Geochemistry, 23(4), 863–894.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Nickson, R., McArthur, J., Burgess, W., Ahmed, K. M., Ravenscroft, P., & Rahman, M. (1998). Arsenic poisoning of Bangladesh groundwater. Nature, 395, 338 (Letter).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Nickson, R. T., Sengupta, C., Mitra, P., Dave, S. N., Banerjee, A. K., Bhattacharya, B., et al. (2007). Current knowledge on the distribution of arsenic in groundwater in five states of India. Journal of Environmental Science and Health, Part A Environmental Science A, 42, 1–12.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ravenscroft, P., McArthur, J. M., & Hoque, B. A. (2001). Geochemical and palaeohydrological controls on pollution of groundwater by arsenic. In W. R. Chappell, C. O. Abernathy, & R. L. Calderon (Eds.), Arsenic exposure and health effects, vol. IV (pp. 53–57). Oxford: Elsevier.

  • Senn, D. B., & Hemond, H. F. (2002). Nitrate controls on iron and arsenic in an urban lake. Science, 296(5577), 2373–2376.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Smedley, P. L., & Kinniburgh, D. G. (2002). A review of the source, behaviour and distribution of arsenic in natural waters. Applied Geochemistry, 17(5), 517–568.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Smedley, P. L., & Kinniburgh, D. G. (2005). Arsenic in groundwater and the environment. In: Selinus, Olle, Alloway, B. (Eds.), Essentials of medical geology. Impacts of natural environment on public health (pp. 263–299). Amsterdam: Academic.

  • Smedley, P. L., Zhang, M., Zhang, G., & Luo, Z. (2003). Mobilisation of arsenic and other trace elements in fluviolacustrine aquifers of the huhhot basin, inner mongolia. Applied Geochemistry, 18, 1453–1477.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stollenwerk, K. G., Breit, G. N., Welch, A. H., Yount, J. C., Whitney, J. W., Foster, A. L., et al. (2007). Arsenic attenuation by oxidized aquifer sediments in Bangladesh. Science of the Total Environment, 379(3), 133–150.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tandukar, N., Bhattacharya, P., & Mukherjee, A. B. (2001). Managing arsenic for our future. Proceedings of the International Conference on Arsenic in the Asia–Pacific region, Adelaide, South Australia, 21–23 November, pp. 103–105.

  • UNESCAP-UNICEF-WHO. (2001). Expert Group Meeting. United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and Pacific. In: Geology and health: Solving the arsenic crisis in the Asia–Pacific region, Bangkok.

Download references

Acknowledgments

NS is thankful to Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (scheme no. 24(306)09-EMR-II) for financial support to carry out this work. VS Chauhan is grateful to CSIR for providing the SRF (File No. 9/92(738)10-EMRI). We are also thankful to www.gpsvisualizer.com for plotting the gps locations in the map.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, UP-208016, India

    Vivek Singh Chauhan & Nalini Sankararamakrishnan

  2. Department of Environmental Sciences, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Lucknow, UP-226025, India

    Vivek Singh Chauhan & M. Yunus

Authors
  1. Vivek Singh Chauhan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. M. Yunus
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Nalini Sankararamakrishnan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nalini Sankararamakrishnan.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Chauhan, V.S., Yunus, M. & Sankararamakrishnan, N. Geochemistry and mobilization of arsenic in Shuklaganj area of Kanpur–Unnao district, Uttar Pradesh, India. Environ Monit Assess 184, 4889–4901 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-011-2310-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-011-2310-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation