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Rakesh Kumar /IJES/ 11(4) 2022 ; 111-117
International Journal of Environmental Sciences 111
Review Paper
Arsenic in Groundwater: A Demon Moving Towards the North India
Rakesh Kumar*
Department of Applied Sciences, MSIT (Affiliated to IP University), Delhi-110058, India
ARTICLE INFORMATION ABSTRACT
Introduction
Water is no doubt the most important natural resource on this planet. It is required for household, industrial and agricultural
activities. The oldest civilizations of this world were located near the fresh water sources. The production of food resources
whether plant products or animal products largely depend on availability of freshwater in the area. For industrial activities in
an area also water is required in such large volumes that no one can afford arranging it from anywhere else. Out of the total
water available on mother Earth, less than even one percent is the freshwater. A very significant amount of the freshwater
(around 97.58 %) is available in form of groundwater. So, the importance of the underground water is much more than the
surface water. Also, the groundwater is less prone to any contamination in comparison to the surface water. This is the reason
why we hardly doubt on the quality of groundwater and use it even for drinking without any prior treatment. But what if we
came to know that the groundwater that we were using for a long time is toxic and contaminated with heavy dose of a toxic
metal.
Water pollution is one of the most complex worldwide environmental problems. When we talk about groundwater pollution,
it can be a result of human activities or sometimes can even have a natural phenomenon responsible for it. The groundwater
pollutants can be organic compounds or even the inorganic metal ions. The commonly found heavy metals in soil and
groundwater are Cd, As, Cr, Zn, Ni, Pb, V and Hg. In water these are diluted easily and found as sparingly soluble
precipitates of metal sulfates, sulfides or carbonates. When the adsorption capacity of sediments is exhausted, it results in an
increase in the concentration of these metal ions (Zhu et al., 2020, Ravindra and Mor, 2019, Tutic et al., 2015). The presence
and vital levels of hazardous pollutants in underground water can be predicted by using appropriate methodological
principles. Using statistical information system, laboratory methods and appropriate technology it is possible to attenuate the
toxic level and effects of heavy metals (Ustaoğlu and Tepe, 2019, Jusufranic et al., 2014). Arsenic comprises of over 200
naturally occurring minerals in the earth’s crust (Smedley and Kinniburgh, 2002).Arsenic adsorbs into mineral surfaces.
Groundwater arsenic contamination is a result of dissolution of these minerals into water or desorption of arsenic from such
mineral surfaces. Sometimes human activities like mining also become a cause of groundwater arsenic contamination.
Vol. 11. No.4. 2022
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Contents available at:
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International Journal of Environmental Sciences (ISSN: 2277-1948) (CIF: 3.654)
A Peer Reviewed Quarterly Journal
Corresponding Author:
Rakesh Kumar
Article history:
Received: 12-11-2022
Revised: 14-11-2022
Accepted: 28-11-2022
Published: 30-11-2022
Key words:
Groundwater, Arsenic,
North India, Over
pumping, Arsenicosis,
Water is life. A very significant part of total fresh water available on this planet is in form of
groundwater. It is one of the Nation’s most important natural resource. As groundwater is less
prone to any contamination in comparison to surface water, so people hardly doubt on the
quality of groundwater. But on estimation, it is found that worldwide more than 140 million
people drink arsenic contaminated groundwater. A study of National Geophysical Research
Institute reveals that the depletion of groundwater largely happening in North India. While ten
years back studies showed that contamination of ground water by arsenic largely happened
only in some parts of Bihar and West Bengal, which is now being seen moving forward in
northwest direction. Studies in different parts of the world have suggested that over pumping
is a potential cause of arsenic contamination of groundwater. So, it is an alarming situation
where we must find a way to manage our groundwater resources in a sustainable way. In this
paper we have reviewed the mechanism of arsenic contamination of groundwater, future
danger of arsenic contamination in North India states, health related impacts of groundwater
arsenic contamination, psychological and socioeconomic impacts of arsenicosis and some
solutions to the problem of groundwater arsenic contamination.
Rakesh Kumar /IJES/ 11(4) 2022 ; 111-117
International Journal of Environmental Sciences 112
Oxidation of sulfides having arsenic has also been considered for the increased arsenic concentration in underground water
(Peters and Burkert, 2008, Tuttle et al., 2009). Recent studies propose that reductive dissolution of arsenic loaded glauconite
can also be accountable for arsenic contamination of groundwater(Mumford et al., 2012).
In groundwater, presence of arsenic is considered as a serious problem. In ecological environments arsenic is found in two
broad forms viz. organic arsenic and inorganic arsenic. Main source of organic arsenic consumption is food and is
comparatively less toxic. While, inorganic arsenic is more toxic and usually derived from our environment. It is observed in
many studies that exposure to even very low concentration of inorganic arsenic can lead to many acute and chronic health
effects(Tsai et al., 2003, Tchounwou et al., 2019). Many studies show that risk of cancer increase due to exposure to
inorganic arsenic. Therefore, arsenic and its compounds are classified as group 1 carcinogens by the International Agency for
Research on Cancer (IARC). The US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA)has also listed arsenic as a group A
carcinogen. The cancerous nature of arsenic in potable water has also been reported globally(Tsuji et al., 2019).
Studies have revealed that groundwater samples having arsenic concentrations more than 1 µg/L were accountable for skin
cancer (Knobeloch et al., 2006). Hence, WHO and USEPA have decreased the permissible limit of total arsenic concentration
in drinking water from 50 µg/L to 10 µg/L(Post, 2021).Increased levels of arsenic ground water are observed in parts of
Bangladesh(Serre et al., 2003),West Bengal (Halder et al., 2013), the United States(Kim et al., 2011) and Taiwan(Lin et al.,
2013). Hyperpigmentation, hypopigmentation and hyperkeratosis are initial skin symptoms of chronic arsenic exposure(Guo
et al., 2001). Exposure to high levels of arsenic (˂100 µg/L) may lead to lung cancer, skin cancer, bladder cancer and non-
carcinogenic effects like peripheral neurotoxicity, skin lesions, keratosis, vascular and neuromuscular abnormalities. But
exposure to even very low levels of arsenic can be responsible for high blood pressure, obesity, hyperglycemia, bone damage,
metabolic syndrome and anemia (Yu et al., 2017).
Now-a-days use of arsenic contaminated groundwater is avoided for drinking purpose but this is not the complete solution of
the problem. Arsenic contaminated underground water is still used for aquaculture. Arsenic can accumulate in the tissue of
farmed fish and thus consumption of fish becomes a route for exposure to arsenic(Ling et al., 2014).Other than this, a major
source of arsenic exposure is through regular consumption of rice cultivated with underground water contaminated with
arsenic(in comparison to other cereals, rice has a higher tendency for arsenic uptake as it is grown in submerged soil
conditions) (Sandhi et al., 2017).This implies that it is a very complicated problem and thus cannot have very simple
straightforward solutions.
Also, the spatial distribution of arsenic in the underground water is generally not homogeneous and can vary significantly
from place to place. This further increases the complexity of the problem. The implication of this is that the human health
risk may also vary from place to place corresponding to variations in the amount of arsenic in groundwater and the quantity
of this water used for drinking.
The main objectives of this review article are:
1. To review the mechanism of contamination of groundwater with hazardous arsenic
2. To review and analyse the future dangers of arsenic contamination in North India states
3. To review and discuss the health effects of arsenic in groundwater, psychological and socioeconomic influences of
arsenicosis and to suggest the possible solutions to this problem.
History of Groundwater Arsenic Contamination in North India
In North India arsenic contamination of groundwater was initially noticed in 1976 in Chandigarh and in some villages of the
Haryana and Punjab (Datta Dv Fau - Kaul and Kaul). Significant attention was not given to this information at that time. In
West Bengal arsenic poisoning was reported in 1983(Garat et al., 1984). In 1999, high level of arsenic was reported in the
underground water of Rajnandgaon district in MP (now in Chhattisgarh) (Chakraborti et al., 1999). In 2003 high arsenic
concentration was reported in Bihar (Chakraborti et al., 2003) and UP(Ahamed et al., 2006), in Jharkhand in 2004(Das et al.,
2008) and along the Allahabad-Kanpur trail in 2009 (Chakraborti et al., 2009). Arsenic levels upto 100 µg/L were reported in
underground water of Delhi, the capital city of India. Arsenic in the underground water of Rajasthan in four districts viz.
Hanumangarh, Gangapur, Churu and Sikar was reported by Duggal et al(Duggal et al., 2012). Himachal Pradesh,
Uttarakhand and the other states in India have not been surveyed yet for the existence of arsenic in underground
water(Chakraborti et al., 2018).
Mechanisms of Arsenic Contamination of Underground Water
Many different theories are put forwarded for the origin of arsenic in groundwater and its flow from that source(Islam et al.,
2004). In an organic matter rich environment like aquifer sediments it is believed that arsenic has been released by reductive
dissolution driven by microbes(Islam et al., 2004, Stuckey et al., 2016). The precise mechanisms for the flow of arsenic are
still not fully explored(Stuckey et al., 2016). It is reported that in Chhattisgarh, ground water arsenic contamination occurred
naturally due to the deposition of the pyrite rich in arsenic, and further its movement due to respiration of organic carbon by
Rakesh Kumar /IJES/ 11(4) 2022 ; 111-117
International Journal of Environmental Sciences 113
microbes (Acharyya et al., 2005). Arsenic containing sediments in the Himalayan Mountains and the Tibetian plateaus are
responsible for the arsenic contamination of water in the North Indian rivers(Das et al., 2008). Reduction of iron-
oxyhydroxides and degradation of organic substances are found to be responsible for arsenic contamination of the
underground water in Bangladesh(Ahmed et al., 2004).The main challenge in understanding the mechanism of arsenic
contamination of the ground water is the non-uniform distribution of arsenic in the Ganga river basin. So aquifer-specific are
required to realize the actual mechanism of arsenic contamination of underground water in a particular area(Singh et al.,
2016).
Table 1. Districts in India having arsenic contaminated groundwater(Mishra et al., 2016)
Sr.No.
Name of State in India
Total number
of districts
Number of districts having Arsenic
contaminated ground water
1
Uttar Pradesh
75
25
2
Jharkhand
24
03
3
Bihar
38
22
4
Haryana
22
14
5
Rajasthan
33
03
6
Delhi
11
01
7
West Bengal
23
14
8
Chhattisgarh
27
02
Overpumping as a Cause of Arsenic Contamination
When the aquifers are stressed from over pumping, high vertical hydraulic gradients cause a large amount of water to be
drawn from the less permeable clays, inducing the release of water which is highly contaminated with arsenic(Smith et al.,
2018). Thus over exploitation of groundwater must be prevented. But in North India groundwater is used on a large scale for
agricultural activities and the farmers depend largely on the groundwater for irrigation.
Movement of Arsenic contamination towards North India
New research by National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI) illustrates that the largest depletion of groundwater in the
world is happening in North India. Ground water is being pumped out with a rate of 70% fast than what was predicted earlier.
Delhi, the capital city of India is the epicenter of this fast developing crisis. From Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and
western UP, 32 cubic Km of groundwater is being lost every year which is only being recovered partially in successive
monsoons. Drying up of ground water by using bigger pumps from deeper bore wells is also one important reason of large
scale contamination of ground water.
Ten years ago arsenic contamination in groundwater was only seen in some parts of Bihar and West Bengal. But now it is
moving towards North West direction. Out of the two big aquifers of Ganga basin, the upper aquifer has already shown
arsenic contamination It is found that deep aquifers generally have low arsenic level with a very few exceptions (Choudhury
et al., 2016). As people have started over exploiting both the aquifers, this lead to an increased cross contamination. Studies
have shown that arsenic have already infected paddy cropon large scale(Sandhi et al., 2017).Arsenic will also affect other
crops in future and will have a terrible impact on human health.
Health related impacts of groundwater arsenic
Arsenic exposure become responsible for a number of health effects(Smoke and Smoking, 2004, Organization, 2001)
appearance of skin lesions is the red signal which is expressed by the body after severe internal damage (Chakraborti et al.,
2011). No medicine is available to cure arsenic toxicity yet. As a preventive measure nutritious food and arsenic free water
are only suggested (Chakraborti et al., 2018).
(a) Skin Related Effects
These types of effects are observed mainly in UP, Jharkhand, Bihar and West Bengal states of India and Bangladesh (Das et
al., 2008, Ahamed et al., 2006, Chakraborti et al., 2011). Usually, the initial skin symptom may be the diffuse melanosis
(darkening of the skin). Spotted pigmentation (spotted melanosis) is considered as the second stage and which generally
appears on the limbs, chest and back. When the individuals having spotted melanosis prevent the intake of arsenic
contaminated water there may be development of white and black spots on their bodies after which is known as
Leucomelanosis. Arsenic toxicity can also leads to mucous membrane melanosis on gums, lips or tongue. The signs of acute
arsenic toxicity are nodular keratosis on the dorsal side of legs, feet and hands(Das et al., 2008, Chakraborti et al., 2011).
Melanosis, keratosis and leucomelanosis are the manifestation of arsenicosis which is actually the illness that happens due to
chronic arsenic exposure. Arsenicosis is common among population exposed to the water contaminated with arsenic and
having poor socio-economic environment. No particular medicine is available to treat arsenicosis. Preventing the use of water
contaminated with arsenic is only suggested(FAO, 2010).
Rakesh Kumar /IJES/ 11(4) 2022 ; 111-117
International Journal of Environmental Sciences 114
Fig. 1: Different types of skin symptoms of arsenic toxicity: (a) Diffuse melanosis; (b) Spotted melanosis; (c)
Leucomelanosis; (d) Tongue melanosis; (e) Diffused & nodular keratosis on palm; (f) Spotted keratosis on sole; and (g)
Dorsal keratosis(Chakraborti et al., 2018).
(b) Gastrointestinal Problems
Gastrointestinal effects were noticed in West Bengal as well as in Bangladesh(Das et al., 2008). Dyspepsia (acute and regular
pain in upper abdomen), symptoms of nausea, diarrhea and anorexia are the main gastrointestinal effects which are
observed.[16,50A]
(c) Cardiovascular Effects
Studies show that prolonged arsenic exposure may cause ischemic heart disease, black foot disease, gangrene, systemic
arteriosclerosis and hypertension. Many cases of gangrene affected legs are observed in India and Bangladesh(Rahman et al.,
2009).
(d) Respiratory Issues
Studies prove that chronic exposure to arsenic can result in many respiratory disorders like cough, noisy chest while
breathing, shortness of breath, malignant and non-malignant lung diseases(Das et al., 2008). Increased arsenic concentration
can also become responsible for bronchitis and chronic cough.
(e) Neurological Effects
Latest studies have identified several arsenic exposed individuals with different peripheral neuropathy symptoms like
hyperpathia, limb pain, distal paresthesia, distal limb symptom, calf tenderness etc(Das et al., 2008).
(f) Reproductive Issue
Adverse pregnancy outcomes like premature birth, increased still birth, abortion, low birth weight and declined intelligence
quotient among the children are observed in arsenic exposed populations (Islam et al., 2004, Acharyya et al., 2005).
(g) Cancer due to Arsenic Exposure
Initially it was thought that arsenic toxicity can cause only the skin cancer but now it is declared by USEPA, WHO as well as
the International Agency for Cancer Research that the other types of cancer like skin, liver, lung, urinary tract, kidney and
bladder cancer can be caused by arsenic(Organization, 2001, Smoke and Smoking, 2004). Ecological investigations, case
controlled and cohort studies provide evidences of arsenic induced cancers from arsenic contaminated drinking water
(Chakraborti et al., 2003).
Arsenic as a part of Food Chain
If a toxic substance once enters in a food chain, it becomes very difficult to remove it. Such is the case with arsenic.
Groundwater used for drinking and cooking is not the only source of exposure to arsenic. When the groundwater
contaminated with arsenic is used for agricultural activities it enters in the plant body and consequently affects the organisms
at the higher tropic levels. [G] Due to the process of bio magnification the organisms at higher tropic levels face the highest
toxic effect of arsenic. Studies in the past showed that when arsenic contaminated groundwater is used for aquaculture, it gets
accumulated in the tissues of fish and thus adversely affect the humans (Kar et al., 2011). In most developing countries
Rakesh Kumar /IJES/ 11(4) 2022 ; 111-117
International Journal of Environmental Sciences 115
ground water is exploited for drinking and agricultural activities without informing the concerned authorities or the
government. [A] So it is very difficult to completely prevent the arsenic exposure in the areas where the groundwater is
contaminated with arsenic. Providing arsenic free water for drinking in such areas is not the complete solution to the
problem.
Psychological and Socio-economic Impacts of Arsenic Contaminated Groundwater
Studies about the arsenic affected areas reveal that arsenicosis cause physical weakness which adversely affects the family
income. When the breadwinner of a poor family is affected, it becomes difficult for the whole family to survive. At macro
level arsenic poisoning adversely affect the GDP of a country and puts a supplementary financial load on the government.
The victims of arsenicosis suffer from social isolation, social hatred and extensive psychological trauma. Cases of suicides
due to fear of social isolation are observed in the patients suffering from arsenicosis. Those who are suffering from
arsenicosis face problem in finding employment because they are rejected due to skin lesions which are easily visible on their
body. Boys and girls having arsenicosis are rejected for marriage proposals. Reproductive failure like stillbirth, abortion and
early neonatal death cause serious psychological trauma in the arsenic affected females.
Solutions to the Problem of Groundwater Arsenic Contamination
The ground water arsenic contamination is a major public health issue which needs to be solved by adopting a multispectral
approach. The main challenges in solving this problem are providing arsenic free water for drinking in arsenic affected areas,
providing proper care to the arsenicosis patients, constant monitoring of arsenic exposed population and encouraging the
research on ground water arsenic issues.
There is a need to increase social awareness about arsenic poisoning so that the victims of arsenic poisoning can be identified
and suitable actions can be taken within the right time. To ensure this the health ministry and the NGO’s should work
actively and specially in the rural areas. For the areas of high population density it is difficult to provide arsenic free water so
arsenic removal technologies must be developed. Different technologies based on oxidation, adsorption, co-precipitation,
membrane separation and ion exchange processes has been developed and are available for removal of arsenic from the
contaminated groundwater. But the appropriateness and efficiency of these technologies is still in question due to different
arsenic concentrations in different areas. Some of these methods are quite simple but they produce a large amount of toxic
sludge. The disposal of this toxic sludge is an issue. More research is required to develop an eco-friendly and cost effective
technique for removal of arsenic from ground water. The ion exchanger based on conducting polymers and conducting
polymer based thin membranes/ sheet / adsorbents which have been used for various applications (Kumar et al., 2015, Kumar
et al., Joon et al., 2015a, Joon et al., 2015b, Kour et al., 2021) are now find applications for removal of heavy metals from
ground water.
Conclusion
The present study established an organized and systematic review of the groundwater contamination with arsenic. It reviewed
the mechanism of arsenic contamination of groundwater, health effects of arsenic present in groundwater, psychological and
socioeconomic outcomes of arsenicosis.
This study reveals that arsenic in ground water is a demon moving towards the north India states.This study also suggested
some possible solutions to the problem of groundwater arsenic contamination.
Possible recommendations
The review study recommends that a lot of research is still required for actual estimation of arsenic contamination of the
groundwater. To study the movement of arsenic in ground water continuous research is required in the future and to prevent
the arsenic contamination of the ground water the recommended possible solutions must be analysed and implemented
practically.
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