Assessing the health risks associated with elevated manganese and iron in groundwater in Sreemangal and Moulvibazar Sadar, Bangladesh

Abstract

Abstract The principal source of drinking water in Bangladesh is groundwater tapped through tubewells. Studies on the concentrations of Mn and Fe in groundwater have been conducted in two hilly areas: Moulavibazar Sadar and Sreemangal upazila in the district of Moulavibazar, where groundwater samples were collected from 23 publicly accessible tubewells. Graphite furnace Atomic Absorption Spectrometer was used to identify the concentration of Mn and Fe in groundwater. Results demonstrated that 73% and 69% of the groundwater samples from the studied areas contained levels of Mn and Fe above the permissible limits for drinking water, respectively. Furthermore, water quality index analysis indicated that 34.8% of samples had poor water quality, while only 17.3% had excellent water quality. Hazard indexes (HI) were used for adults and children to determine the risk of drinking water contaminated with Mn and Fe. The HI values of children ranged from 0.76 to 55.31 and 14.58 to 46.63, respectively, with a respective mean of 18.85 and 27.52 for Moulvibazar Sadar and Sreemanagal. For adults, Moulvibazar Sadar and Sreemangal had respective means of 2.58 and 3.12 for HI, ranging from 0.79 to 4.54 and from 1.38 to 6.04. This result implied that the health risks associated with non-carcinogenic elements: Mn and Fe are more prevalent among children than adults in the study area.