Fluoride Contamination in Ground Water and its Impact on Human Health: a Case Study in Purulia District, West Bengal

Jump To References Section

Authors

  • Debasis Ghosh
     Department of Geography, University of Calcutta, West Bengal ,IN
  • Mrinal Mandal
     Department of Geography, Sidho-Kanho-Birsha University, Purulia, West Bengal ,IN
  • Monali Banerjee
     Department of Geography, Sidho-Kanho-Birsha University, Purulia, West Bengal ,IN

Keywords:

Country Rocks, Geological Structure, Genesis, Contamination, Fluoride.

Abstract

Fluoride contamination in drinking water is a burning environmental issue of the World today. The people of nearly 29 countries are affected with 'fluorosis' due to intake of fluoride-rich water including India. In West Bengal, excess fluoride in groundwater has been found in seven districts. Those are Purulia, Birbhum, Bardhaman, Bankura, Malda, South Dinajpur and North Dinajpur. Fluorine is a common element that does not occur in the elemental state in nature because of its high reactivity. It exists in the form of fluorides in a number of minerals. High fluoride is derived from fluoride rich minerals, such as, apatite, fluorite, hornblende and biotite which are present in the country rocks dominated by granite gneisses and hornblende-biotite gneiss. It is observed that the sub-surface geo-hydrological environment of Purulia is contaminated with fluoride. Intensive and prolonged semi-arid climate, long term withdrawal of groundwater for irrigation, alkaline nature of sub-surface circulating water, long residence time of water in fractured aquifers and geological structure are the favourable conditions for fluoride enrichment (2%-10%) in the Purulia region. Geological set up of Purulia plays a major role for availability of ground water as well as the quality of water. In Raghunathpur-I, Purulia II and Arsha Blocks of Purulia district, fluoride concentration is higher than permissible limit in ground water. Water samples were collected from 25 different tube wells under Purulia Block-II and Raghunathpur-II in Purulia district. Sampling bottles were labelled, tightly packed, transported to the laboratory and stored at 4°C for chemical analysis, such as, total dissolved solid (TDS), total hardness (TH), total alkalinity (TA), Calcium (Ca2+), Magnesium (Mg2+), total Iron (Fe) fluoride (F-). Data were also collected from Natural Resources Data Management System (NRDMS) department of West Bengal. The present work peeps into the negative effect of fluoride on the human health of fluoride affected Blocks of the study area.

Downloads

Published

2016-06-01

Issue

Volume 13, Issue 1, June 2016

Section

Articles

License

All the articles published in JES are distributed under a creative commons license. The journal allows the author(s) to hold the copyright of their work (all usages allowed except for commercial purpose).

Please contact us at editorgjeis@gmail.com for permissions related to commercial use of the article(s).

 

References

Achary, T. and Nag, S. K. 2013. Study of groundwater prospects of the crystalline rocks in Purulia. Earth Resource, 33: 54-59.

Acharya, T. 2012. Analysis of lineament swarms in a Precambrian metamorphic rocks in India. Journal of Earth System Science, 121(2): 453-462.

Appelo, C. A. J. and Dieke, Postma. 2005. Groundwater and Pollution. CRC Press, pp. 28-52.

Baidya, T. K. (1992) Apatite-magnetite deposit in the Chhotanagpur Gneissic Complex, Panrkidih area, Purulia district, West Bengal. Indian Journal of Geology, 64(1): 88-95.

Chakrabarti, S. 2011. Incidence of fluoride in the groundwater of Purulia district, West Bengal: A geo-environmental appraisal. Current Science, 101(2): 152-155.

Chakrabarti, S. 2013. Fluoride contamination in a hard rock terrain: A case study of Purulia district, West Bengal, India. Journal of Chemical, Biological and Physical Sciences, 3(4): 2931-2941.

Chernet, T., Hart, W. K., Aronson, J. L. and Walter, R. C. 1998. New Age constraints on the timing of volcanism and Tectonism in the Northern Main Ethiopian Rift-Southern Afar Transition Zone (Ethiopia). Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 80: 267–280.

Gupta, A. and Basu, A. 2000. North Singhbhum Proterozoic mobile belt Eastern India-A review. Geol. Surv. India Spec. Publ., no. 55, pp. 195-226.

Nanyaro, J. T., Aswathanarayana, U., Mungure, J. S. and Lahermo, 1984. P.W.J. : A geochemical model for the abnormal fluoride concentration in the water in the part of northern Tanzania. Journal of African Earth Science, 2: 129-140.

WHO 2004. Retrived December 17, 2015 from http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/publications/fluoride_drinking_water/