Groundwater arsenic poisoning in a primary educational institution: health risks to school-going children

This study aimed to estimate arsenic (As) and iron (Fe) content in tubewell water (n = 58) in primary educational institutions and subsequently assess the health risks to school-going children. Results described that the As concentration ranged between 0.002 and 0.994 mg L-1 with an average value of 0.044 mg L-1; which exceeded the World Health Organization (WHO) provisional guideline value of 0.01 mg L-1. Similarly, the Fe content varied from 0.05 to 10 mg L-1 averaging to 2.84 mg L-1. Samples of 55.17% contained a greater As concentration than 0.01 mg L-1 and 18.97% greater than Bangladesh drinking water quality (BDWQ) standard of 0.05 mg L-1, respectively. Meanwhile, 75.86% of samples contained a higher Fe concentration than the maximum Bangladesh permissible limit of 1 mg L-1. Health risk assessment indicated that girls are more vulnerable than boys are. The average hazard quotients (HQs) for As intake through drinking water were 6.01 +/- 17.85 and 7.41 +/- 22.03 for boys and girls, respectively, implying non-carcinogenic health risks to both genders. The HQs for Fe intake were less than threshold value of 1 indicating no health issues may arise from Fe intake alone. However, consumption of As and Fe may trigger health risks to students as indicated by the hazard index (HI), which was higher than 1. The average cancer risk (CR) values for both boys (0.0027 +/- 0.008) and girls (0.0033 +/- 0.0099) exceeded the threshold limit of 10(-6)-10(-4), suggesting a possibility of lifetime cancer risks to the school-going children. Consequently, school authorities should find alternative ways to ensure safe drinking water for school-going children to avoid possible cancer and non-cancer health risks through consumption of As-poisoning water.