Environ Monit Assess. 2025 Aug 21;197(9):1033. doi: 10.1007/s10661-025-14446-z.
ABSTRACT
This study focuses on the rarely ventured assessment of the flood-induced heavy metal contamination in the water sources in a flood-prone region in India, emphasizing human health risks using average daily dose (ADD), hazard quotient (HQ), hazard index (HI), and carcinogenic risk (CR). Results showed children were more vulnerable to exposure than adults, and ingestion was the main route of exposure, followed by dermal and inhalation. The contribution of Cd to the cumulative HI for children was the highest, exceeding the maximum acceptable risk level of 1.0 × 10-4. The values of single HI were elevated after flooding, but did not exceed the critical value of 1. The highest CR contributor was Cr, followed by Cd, Ni, and Pb, with lifetime CR within the acceptable limit of 10-6-10-4. Heavy metal pollution index (HPI) was found to be > 100 for both river and groundwater, indicating “severe” contamination status with Cd, Mn, and Fe being the prime contributors. The paired t-static revealed significant differences in the metal concentrations before and after floods. Factors extracted by principal components analysis (PCA) indicated the influence of floods as a source of metal contamination integrated with anthropogenic and geogenic sources. The findings form an important database for monitoring, mitigating, and remediating flood-induced contaminations and human health effects in riverine systems.
PMID:40839204 | DOI:10.1007/s10661-025-14446-z
