Quantification of Heavy Metals and Chemical Stressors in Ground Water of Coal Mining Areas and Associated Human Health Risk

Abstract

Acid mine drainage is one of the most obvious challenges in coal mining areas that is responsible for deteriorating soil and ground water quality of nearby communities thus posing serious human health risk. Objective: To quantify of heavy metals and chemical stressors in ground water and associated human health risk. Methods: Cross-sectional study with a combination of random sampling and Probability-Proportional-to-Size Sampling was used. Eight different sites were selected for water sample collection, and heavy metals were quantified. The analysis was carried out. Physicochemical properties of water were assessed using a portable photometer. Hematological parameters and antioxidants in the blood of study subjects were also measured. Results: Among the water samples, site S1 had the highest iron concentration at 0.354 ppm, exceeding the US limit of 0.3 ppm, with nickel being the next most abundant metal. Site S8 recorded the highest temperature at 36.4°C, while site S5 had the highest pH in the drinking water. The maximum electrical conductivity was found at S4 with 1387 s/m, and the total dissolved solvent parameter peaked at 1598 ppm in S8. Subjects exposed to acid mine drainage through water consumption displayed significant changes in antioxidant and blood parameters compared to the control group. In the exposed group, catalase (63.47), superoxide dismutase (33.26), and glutathione peroxidase (532.97) levels decreased, while malondialdehyde levels increased to 1.39. Conclusions: The physical and chemical  properties of all water resources of mining areas were negatively altered due to heavy metals contamination thus poses a serious threat of oxidative stress in exposed subjects.