Groundwater quality and health assessments based on heavy metals and trace elements content in Dakhla Oasis, New Valley Governorate, Egypt

ABSTRACT This study is searching for some crucial physicochemical properties of groundwater samples collected from eleven outlets in Dakhla Oasis, Egypt, including the pH-value, electrical conductivity (EC), total dissolved solids (TDS), in addition to the concentrations of heavy metals and trace elements. In total 21 elements were analyzed using inductively coupled plasma spectrometry (ICP-OES). To categorize the water class: Chronic daily intakes (CDI), water quality index (WQI) and hazard risk (HR) were computed for the 21 elements in the water samples. Some biological parameters such as levels of urea, creatinine, and the tumor marker CEA were measured. The obtained results showed that the pH-values (6.12 to 6.56) for water samples are within the acceptable limits of the WHO. Results showed, also, that EC (274 to 532 μS/cm), TDS (175 to 340 ppm) besides, the level of measured 21 elements were lower than the values allowed by World Health Organization (WHO) and US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA). Additionally, the reached data were comparable to other internationally published figures. It is emphasized that the data obtained for WQI confirmed that water from all the sampling points was of expedient quality. Based on the obtained data and the evaluated parameters, it can be concluded that the groundwater samples of the studied areas are of excellent quality; they do not pose any health risks to the local citizens, and are safe for their domestic consumption. Moreover, the results of urea, creatinine, and CEA analyses showed very few abnormal cases, which confirmed, again, that the groundwater in the studied areasdid not pose a risk to human health.