Groundwater geochemistry, quality, and pollution of the largest lake basin in the Middle East: Comparison of PMF and PCA-MLR receptor models and application of the source-oriented HHRA approach. (February 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Haghnazar, Hamed; Johannesson, Karen H.; González-Pinzón, Ricardo; Pourakbar, Mojtaba; Aghayani, Ehsan; Rajabi, Akbar; Hashemi, Ahmad Asl
• Is Part Of: Chemosphere. Volume 288:Part 1(2022)
• Publication Date: 2022-02
• Subjects: Groundwater quality -- Hydrogeochemistry -- Heavy metals -- PMF -- Human health risks; Pollution -- Periodicals; Pollution -- Physiological effect -- Periodicals; Environmental sciences -- Periodicals; Atmospheric chemistry -- Periodicals; 551.511
• DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.132489
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0045-6535

Abstract

Abstract: We evaluated groundwater quality, pollution, and its effects on human health in the eastern part of the Lake Urmia basin, the largest lake in the Middle East. Although groundwater quality is suitable for drinking and irrigation purposes, an index-based approach quantifying heavy metal pollution revealed that most sampling sites exhibited moderate to high pollution levels in the northern and southern regions. The positive matrix factorization (PMF) and principal component analysis-multi linear regression (PCA-MLR) receptor models suggest that the main contributors to the observed groundwater pollution, expressed as percentages by model, were: lake water infiltration and dissolution of minerals and fertilizers (46% and 63%), infiltration of leachates from solid wastes (29% and 15%), mixing with industrial-municipal wastewaters (18% and 13%), and vehicular emissions (7% and 9%). The PMF model indicated better correlations between observed and predicted concentrations (R 2 = 0.96) than the PCA-MLR (R 2 = 0.89). Our results from the human health risk assessments (HHRA) highlight non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic risks for Pb and Cr, respectively. Also, the PMF-based assessment of human health risk indicated that wastewaters and solid waste leachates are responsible for the cancer risk from Cr for children. Graphical abstract: Image 1 Highlights: Groundwater pollution by heavy metals indicated a moderate to high level. The chemical composition of Lake Urmia groundwaters reflects a combination of natural and anthropogenic sources. The PMF receptor model is preferred for estimating the source apportionment. Pollution by wastewaters and solid waste leachates are responsible for the cancer risk from Cr for children.