Quality and health risk assessment of water resources in Sizma-Ladik (Konya) inactive mining area, Turkey

The present study was conducted to evaluate the drinking water quality and human health risk in Sizma-Ladik (Konya) inactive mining area, Central Anatolia, Turkey. Within this scope, twenty-eight water samples were collected from wells and springs. Water resources in the study area are of Ca-HCO3, Ca-Mg-HCO3, Ca-Mg-HCO3-SO4, Ca-HCO3-SO4 and Ca-HCO3-Cl water types, and Ca, Mg and HCO3 are the dominant ions depending on the weathering/dissolution of carbonates in the study area. The water quality index (WQI) values calculated to evaluate the water resources for drinking and domestic purposes showed that 54% of water samples are of excellent, 32% of good, and 14% are of poor quality for drinking and domestic purposes. The results show that the poor quality can be attributed to high concentrations of Al, As, Fe, Pb, Sb and NO3 resulting from the decomposition of the ore deposits, agricultural activity, domestic wastewater and animal manure waste in residential and agricultural areas in the study area. To assess the health risks due to the ingestion of Al, As, Pb, Sb, Fe and NO3 via drinking water, hazard quotient (HQ) and total hazard index (THI) values for adults and children were used. Based on the health risk assessments, it was determined that the non-carcinogenic health risks due to the ingestion of As and Sb-polluted water resources in the study area are very high for both adults and children. Also, the contribution of nitrate to chronic health risks is considerable, especially for children. Carcinogenic risk of As via ingestion of water resources in the study area exceeded the acceptable risk of 50% for adults and 71.4% for children, suggesting that prolonged ingestion of water over a lifetime can increase the cancer probability. It is concluded that water resources in the study area do not have an acceptable quality for drinking purposes due to the risks posed by As, Sb and NO3. Therefore, an effective plan must be urgently implemented to control and better manage the polluted water resources.

Automated summary

This study evaluated the drinking water quality and human health risks in an inactive mining area in Central Anatolia, Turkey. It found that a significant portion of the water samples had high concentrations of pollutants such as Al, As, Fe, Pb, Sb and NO3, posing non-carcinogenic health risks, particularly from As and Sb, to both adults and children. The study concluded that urgent measures are needed to control and manage the polluted water resources to prevent potential health hazards.