Climatic variations and de-coupling between arsenic and iron in arsenic contaminated ground water in the lowlands of Nepal

Chemosphere
Barbara Mueller, Stephan J Hug

Abstract

As widely known, in several countries in South East Asia, arsenic concentrations in ground water extracted from Quaternary alluvial sediments frequently exceed the World Health Organization (WHO) drinking water guideline of 10 μg/L. The broadly accepted hypothesis states that reductive dissolution of Fe-bearing minerals releases As-oxyanions contained within these minerals. According to the results presented in this article, As and Fe concentrations in ground water in the lowlands (Terai) of Nepal are highly variable as a function of location and there is a de-coupling of As and Fe concentrations resulting in a loss of correlation between these two elements. The mean concentrations of As and of Fe in 35 wells were slightly higher in the post-monsoon than in the pre-monsoon season. Even though As is mainly associated with iron(hydr)oxides, a substantial portion of As and Fe can be retained by clay minerals (including micas). During pre-monsoon (dry season) clayey sediments are chemically weathered losing Na and K thus remaining relatively enriched in less mobile elements such as Fe and Al. As long as reducing conditions persist, As remains relatively mobile. This article includes a detailed discussion referring to the very weak ...Continue Reading

Citations

Sep 26, 2020·Environmental Geochemistry and Health·Barbara MuellerStephan J Hug
Jul 18, 2021·Environmental Research·Mohammed BerkaniAmin Mousavi Khaneghah

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