Assessment of groundwater quality and human health risk related to arsenic using index methods and GIS: A case of Şuhut Plain (Afyonkarahisar/Turkey)

In this study the spatial variation of groundwater quality and the potential health risk situation arising were evaluated determining Water Quality Index (WQI and IWQI) for drinking and irrigation water in Şuhut Plain (Afyonkarahisar, Turkey). A total of 27 groundwater samples were collected from wells in May-2019 and physicochemical analysis results were evaluated. According to analysis results of the water samples, the orders of anion and cations are HCO3>SO4-2>Cl- > CO3-2 and Ca+2 > Mg+2 > Na+>K+, respectively. It has been determined that groundwater samples are generally in “excellent” and “good” water class according to the WQI and IWQI assessment. At the same time, groundwater in the study area is suitable for agricultural irrigation water. However, many water samples cannot be used as drinking water in terms of TDS, Mg, NO3 and AsT according to limit values of TSI-266 (2005) and WHO (2011). Health risk assessment indicate that, the risk of developing cancer due to arsenic exposure in healthy adults or children is very low. But, arsenic has a high non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic potentially harmful effect.