Assessment of heavy metals and radionuclides in groundwater and associated human health risk appraisal in the vicinity of Rooppur nuclear power plant, Bangladesh

Tasrina Rabia Choudhury; Jannatul Ferdous; Md Morshedul Haque; Md Mostafizur Rahman; Shamshad Begum Quraishi; M Safiur Rahman

doi:10.1016/j.jconhyd.2022.104072

Assessment of heavy metals and radionuclides in groundwater and associated human health risk appraisal in the vicinity of Rooppur nuclear power plant, Bangladesh

J Contam Hydrol. 2022 Dec:251:104072. doi: 10.1016/j.jconhyd.2022.104072. Epub 2022 Sep 3.

Authors

Tasrina Rabia Choudhury¹, Jannatul Ferdous², Md Morshedul Haque³, Md Mostafizur Rahman³, Shamshad Begum Quraishi⁴, M Safiur Rahman⁵

Affiliations

¹ Analytical Chemistry Laboratory, Chemistry Division, Atomic Energy Centre Dhaka, Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh. Electronic address: tasrina_rabia@baec.gov.bd.
² Health Physics Division, Atomic Energy Centre Dhaka, Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh.
³ Department of Environmental Sciences, Jahangirnagar University, Dhaka 1342, Bangladesh.
⁴ Analytical Chemistry Laboratory, Chemistry Division, Atomic Energy Centre Dhaka, Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh.
⁵ Water Quality Research Laboratory, Chemistry Division, Atomic Energy Centre Dhaka, Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh.

PMID: 36084350
DOI: 10.1016/j.jconhyd.2022.104072

Abstract

This study was carried out to assess the groundwater quality through estimating trace and heavy metal concentration and radionuclide levels in the vicinity of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant (RNPP) sites. Twenty-six (26) parameters, including major cations (K, Na, Mg, Ca) and anions (SO₄^-2, NO₃^-), trace and heavy metals (Mn, Fe, Zn, Ni, Co, Pb, Cd, As, Hg, Cu, Li, Be, B, V, Ga, Sr, Ag, Ba) and radionuclides (¹³⁷Cs, ²²⁶Ra, ²²⁸Ra, and ⁴⁰K) were estimated in water samples in the study area. This study revealed that the concentration values (μg/L) of Mn (667.091 ± 7.481), Fe (191.477 ± 3.756), Sr (105.218 ± 13.424), and Zn (23.493 ± 1.134) were the dominant metals in the study area. Different pollution evaluation indices (i.e., HPI, HEI, NI, C_d) data revealed that the study area was under a low to medium level of pollution due to the presence of metals in water. Subsequently, non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic health risks assessments for both adults and children were conducted, which indicated that health risk for the carcinogenic metals were below the threshold level except As through oral exposure for both adult and children. The activity concentrations of ²²⁶Ra, ²²⁸Ra, and ⁴⁰K were measured to demonstrate probable radioactivity pollution using Gamma-ray spectrometry (High-resolution HPGe detector). The highest activity concentration of ²²⁶Ra, ²²⁸Ra, and ⁴⁰K in groundwater samples were 4.9 ± 1.24 Bq/L (RNPP-15), 1.71 ± 0.43 Bq/L (RNPP-15), and 15.43 ± 3.08 Bq/L (RNPP-15). Among the three studied radionuclides, ⁴⁰K has the highest average activity concentration. The radiological indicators referred to the annual effective dose (AED) is 0.4273 mSv yr-1, which implies no significant cause of radiological risks and hazards (UNSCEAR guideline value). This study provides a baseline of trace and toxic metal contamination, radioactivity, and radiation levels in the groundwater of the nuclear power plant (being built) area.

Keywords: Health risk; Nuclear powerplant; Pollution index; Radioactivity; Trace metals, radionuclides.

MeSH terms

Adult
Bangladesh
Child
Environmental Monitoring / methods
Groundwater*
Health Status Indicators
Humans
Metals, Heavy* / analysis
Nuclear Power Plants
Radioisotopes / analysis
Risk Assessment / methods
Water / analysis

Substances

Metals, Heavy
Radioisotopes
Water