Assessment of human health risk arising due to fluoride and nitrate in groundwater: a case study of Bhokardan tehsil of Maharashtra

Abstract Change in drinking water quality causes significant impacts on human health. Current research aims to identify the risk arising for infants, children, and adults due to the elevated concentration of nitrate and fluoride in groundwater. Groundwater samples from dug wells (100 samples) and bore wells (90 samples) were collected across the Bhokardan tehsil in December 2018. The physicochemical parameters like pH, EC, salinity, TDS, Nitrate, and Fluoride were analyzed. In most Bhokardan tehsil, NO3 concentration (45 mg/l) in bore well samples falls within the desirable limit. Still, in the case of dug wells, average nitrate is beyond the BIS permissible limits. 77% and 15.6% samples from dug and bore wells exceed the allowable limit (1.5 mg/l) of fluoride in drinking water. It is observed that in bore well samples, nitrate and fluoride depicts the highest risk to children (Avg. 1.44 and 1.88) as the average value is above critical value, i.e., 1 followed by infants (Avg. 1.06 and 1.64) and adults (Avg. 0.94 and 1.22) for the nitrate health risk. The highest THQ value for nitrate (4.81) and fluoride (2.42) was recorded for children. This analysis will help policymakers and practitioners develop policies at the administrative (tehsil) level to evaluate and monitor human health implications.