Risk assessment of arsenic in groundwater of Jacobabad City

Water is vital constituent for survival of existence on earth, which contains minerals, essential for humans as well as for earth and aquatic life. Water is being polluted due to industrialization, with varying polluting agents, arsenic (As) contamination is one of them. A comprehensive study was carried out for the determination of Arsenic in groundwater of Jacobabad city using microwave-assisted digestion followed by atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS) coupled with mercury Hydride generation system (MHS-15). For that purpose, a total of 98 ground water samples were collected from 07 union councils (UCs) of the Jacobabad city on global position (GPS) method. Results revealed that maximum concentration of As was found (22.0)μg/L in UC-6, (15)μg/L in UC-1 and in UC-3, (13)μg/L in UC-4 and in UC-7, while (12)μg/L in UC-5 and in UC-2 respectively. The minimum and maximum mean concentration of Arsenic was found (3.4)μg/L and(14.6)μg/L, respectively. Out of 98 ground water samples of Jacobabad city, 16 samples were found above the permissible limits of WHO (~16.3% of total samples). Hence, water can be used for drinking purpose with carefulness.