Dataset Information

Sulfate reduction accelerates groundwater arsenic contamination even in aquifers with abundant iron oxides.

ABSTRACT: Groundwater contamination by geogenic arsenic is a global problem affecting nearly 200 million people. In South and Southeast Asia, a cost-effective mitigation strategy is to use oxidized low-arsenic aquifers rather than reduced high-arsenic aquifers. Aquifers with abundant oxidized iron minerals are presumably safeguarded against immediate arsenic contamination, due to strong sorption of arsenic onto iron minerals. However, preferential pumping of low-arsenic aquifers can destabilize the boundaries between these aquifers, pulling high-arsenic water into low-arsenic aquifers. We investigate this scenario in a hybrid field-column experiment in Bangladesh where naturally high-arsenic groundwater is pumped through sediment cores from a low-arsenic aquifer, and detailed aqueous and solid-phase measurements are used to constrain reactive transport modelling. Here we show that elevated groundwater arsenic concentrations are induced by sulfate reduction and the predicted formation of highly mobile, poorly sorbing thioarsenic species. This process suggests that contamination of currently pristine aquifers with arsenic can occur up to over 1.5 times faster than previously thought, leading to a deterioration of urgently needed water resources.

SUBMITTER: Nghiem AA

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10074394 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Sulfate reduction accelerates groundwater arsenic contamination even in aquifers with abundant iron oxides.

Nghiem Athena A AA Prommer Henning H Mozumder M Rajib H MRH Siade Adam A Jamieson James J Ahmed Kazi Matin KM van Geen Alexander A Bostick Benjamin C BC

Nature water 20230216 2

Groundwater contamination by geogenic arsenic is a global problem affecting nearly 200 million people. In South and Southeast Asia, a cost-effective mitigation strategy is to use oxidized low-arsenic aquifers rather than reduced high-arsenic aquifers. Aquifers with abundant oxidized iron minerals are presumably safeguarded against immediate arsenic contamination, due to strong sorption of arsenic onto iron minerals. However, preferential pumping of low-arsenic aquifers can destabilize the bounda ...[more]

PMID: 37034542

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Project description:Arsenic (As) in groundwater and its accumulation in agricultural produces has caused serious threats to human health. The majority of current research on As mainly focuses on the technical aspects while bypassing the social perspectives. Farmers are the prime stakeholders as well as executors of agricultural strategies, and their adaptation largely depends on how they perceive the risk for which a mitigation strategy is proposed. This study aims to explore how rice and vegetable farmers perceive As accumulation in their rice and vegetables as well as explore current crop- and body-loading status, the subsequent health consequences of As, and alleviation possibilities with mitigation strategies and to investigate if there is an association between their socioeconomic status and their level of perception. Results reveal that one-fourth of the farmers gave a positive message regarding the As-contamination scenario in rice and vegetables. Although 10 farmers' socioeconomic characteristics were positively significant, distinctive emphasis should be given to five predictor variables explaining 88% variances: knowledge, direct participation in farming, information sources used, participant education, and organizational participation. Path analysis depicts that direct participation in farming presents the highest positive total effect (0.855) and direct effect (0.503), whereas information sources show the highest positive indirect effect (0.624). The mean As content in all five locations was statistically significant at the 5%, 5%, 0.1%, 1%, and 1% probability levels in scalp hairs, rice, vegetables, soils, and irrigation water, respectively. The first principal component (PC1) explains 92.5% of the variation. Significant variations were primarily explained by As levels in irrigation water, rice grain, and soil. Farmers' perception is far behind the actual field status of As level and its transfer. Therefore, intensified priorities should be administered on the farmers' characteristics contributing to variances in perception. The findings can be utilized for policy formulation in all As-endemic nations. More multidisciplinary research can be undertaken on farmers' attitude towards adopting As-mitigation techniques, with a focus on the socioeconomic position found to influence farmers' perceptions.

Dataset Information

Sulfate reduction accelerates groundwater arsenic contamination even in aquifers with abundant iron oxides.

Publications

Sulfate reduction accelerates groundwater arsenic contamination even in aquifers with abundant iron oxides.

Similar Datasets

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