article · International Journal of Environmental & Analytical Chemistry
An assessment of water sources in the semi-urban Umunya area of Nigeria investigated nitrate-related health risks and geochemical properties. Testing of household and commercial water samples indicated slight contamination. Evaluation of exposure routes revealed that oral ingestion poses a greater health risk than dermal contact, with children exhibiting the highest hazard quotients across both pathways. Overall, approximately half of the evaluated samples exposed residents to low chronic nitrate health risks. Hydrogeochemical analyses identified calcium-magnesium-bicarbonate and sodium-bicarbonate water types as the most common varieties. Statistical analysis and geochemical modelling showed that water chemistry is driven primarily by natural geogenic factors, such as local geology and silicate weathering, rather than human activities. These findings provide baseline evidence intended to aid local water resource management and monitoring efforts.
Access to safe drinking water is vital for public health, particularly for children who are often more susceptible to chemical contaminants. Understanding whether water risks originate from natural geochemical reactions or human pollution helps municipal planners and environmental health authorities design targeted monitoring frameworks and protect local communities from potential chronic health hazards.
The research represents early-stage environmental baseline assessment rather than a ready product. The geochemical findings and risk data could be used by environmental consultants, regional water providers, and filtration technology developers to specify water-treatment systems tailored to local chemistry. Moving towards real-world commercial applications would require developing and testing targeted purification or treatment methods suited to this specific water profile.
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The aim of this study was to assess the nitrate health risks due to water consumption via oral and dermal contact routes and to evaluate the geochemical characteristics of waters in the Umunya area, Nigeria, as implied from ionic ratios, graphical plots, and multivariate statistics. This study is the first to assess the human health risks associated with nitrate contamination in the semi-urban. Standard methods were used to achieve the aim of the study. Water from commercial and household sources were sampled. Measured physicochemical properties showed that the water resources are slightly contaminated. Health hazard quotient (oral) ranged from 0–0.5072 for men, 0–0.5994 for women, and 0–0.6858 for children. On the other hand, the maximum hazard quotient (dermal) for men, women, and children were 0.0013, 0.0016, and 0.0042, respectively. The total hazard index for men, women, and children respectively varied from 0–0.509, 0–0.601 and 0–0.690. Overall, it was indicated that 46.67%, 53.33%, and 53.33% of the water samples expose men, women, and children to low chronic health risk of nitrate. However, the risk for water ingestion was higher than that for dermal absorption. Hydrogeochemical plots revealed that Ca2+-Mg2+-HCO3− and Na+-HCO3− water types, representing recharge and base ion exchange processes, respectively, are predominant. Principal component analysis and R-type hierarchical clustering revealed that the hydrogeochemical characteristics are mostly controlled by geogenic factors than human-related factors. The geology of the area and silicate weathering processes were implicated as the major influencers of the hydrogeochemistry. For sustainable development and improved water monitoring in the area, the insights provided in this paper are considered very beneficial.
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DOI: 10.1080/03067319.2023.2206022
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