Groundwater constitutes a vital source of freshwater, accounting for roughly 95% of the total available freshwater resources on Earth. It is utilized not only for daily water needs but also for agricultural irrigation, industrial purposes, ecological recharge, and power generation.
Country | Study Area | Max As conc. (µg/L) | Samples | Environmental Condition and/or Enrichment Mechanism | References |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Afghanistan | Ghazni and maidan Wardak provinces | 990 | 746 | The weathering and leaching action | [39] |
Argentina | Santiago del Estero Province | 14,969 | 40 | Volcanic ash sedimentary environment; agricultural irrigation | [40] |
La Pampa | 5300 | 44 | The geological factors; weathering of volcanic ash and loess; oxidizing condition | [41] | |
Australia | Stuarts Point coastal | 85 | 140 | Desorption of As from Al-hydroxides and As-enriched Fe-oxyhydroxides; high concentrations of HCO3− and PO4− | [42] |
Bangladesh | Noakhali | 4730 | 52,202 | Eroded by flood plain rivers | [25] |
Bolivia | 364 | 24 | The alteration of volcanic rocks; evaporation and redox reactions | [43] | |
Botswana | Botswana | 116 | 20 | Delta; evaporation concentration; weakly alkaline environment; pH 6.29–8.60 | [44] |
Brazil | 2980 | Anthropogenic; volcanic activity and weathering of rocks | [43] | ||
Burkina Faso | 1630 | 45 | Zones of gold mineralization in volcano-sedimentary rocks | [45] | |
China | Datong Basin | 1932 | 1022 | The weak alkaline reductive environment; high HCO3− concentration; water–rock interactions | [46] |
Hetao Basin | 572 | 63 | The reducing conditions; the dissolved organic; the competitive effects of other anions | [47] | |
Jianghan Basin | 2330 | 34 | The high HCO3− concentrations; microorganisms and exogenous substances; the seasonal variation; strongly reducing environment; reducing environment | [48] | |
Taiwan (Lanyang and Chianan Plain) | 1010 | Alluvial plain; high DOC; strong reducing conditions | [49] | ||
Tarim Basin | 91.2 | 233 | Reducing environment; the dissolved organic; reductive dissolution release; | [50] | |
Yinchuan | 177 | 92 | Agricultural irrigation; the reductive dissolution of Fe oxides; the high PO4− concentrations | [51] | |
Pearl River Delta | 161 | 18 | Reductive environment; the high NH4+ concentrations; high concentrations of NH4+ and organic matter | [52] | |
Cambodia | 1610 | 207 | Holocene alluvial sediments; reducing environment | [53] | |
Costa Rica | Northern Costa Rica | 29,100 | 35 | Associated with the volcanic rock | [43] |
Czech Republic | Mokrsko | 1690 | 62 | pH> 9 | [54] |
Ecuador | 969 | 67 | In hot springs | [43] | |
Ethiopia | Southwestern Ethiopia | 184.5 | 44 | pH < 7 | [55] |
Ghana |
|
1760 | 357 | Spillages of the mines; pH 4.8–6.99 | [56] |
Hungary | Southern Hungary | 260 | 73 | At a depth of 0.8–2.4 km and containing CH4 | [57] |
India | Bhair | 1466 | 1365 | Ganga Plain; Holocene newer alluvium and the Pleistocene older alluvium | [58] |
Shahpur block, Bhojpur district, Bihar state | 1805 | 4704 | Ganges plain | [28] | |
Punjab | 3192 | 4780 | Alluvial aquifers | [58] | |
Iran | Kurdistan Some villages | 1500 | 27 | Mining and sedimentary environment | [59] |
East Azarbaijan-Tabriz Plain | 2000 | 18 | Hydrogeological and environmental reducing conditions | ||
Ardabil-A city | 5834 | 163 | Interaction of hydrothermal fluids with the rocks and geogenic source-geological structure | ||
Mazandar an-Haraz River | 110 | 20 | Geogenic source and mining | ||
Tabas South Khorasan | 53 | 29 | Weathering | ||
Razavi Khorasan Chelpu Kashmar | 606 | 12 | GeogenicOrigin sedimentary environment | ||
Isfahan Mutehgold mining district | 1061 | 17 | Weathering and mining | ||
Japan | 38 | 136 | Reducing environment and factory blowdown | [26] | |
Korea | Geumsan County | 113 | 150 | Oxidation reaction of sulfide minerals in metasedimentary rocks and desorption process under high pH conditions | [60] |
Nigeria | Warri-Port Harcourt, Ogun State, Kaduna | 750 | 20 | Alluvial sediments, , slightly acidic | [16] |
Pakistan | Kasur, Shhiwal, Bahawalpur, and Rahim Yar Khan | 3090 | 395 | Irrigation and factory sewage | [61] |
Lahore municipality | 85 | 41 | Topsoil and extensive irrigation of unconfined aquifers, reductive dissolution | [32] | |
Mailsi | 812 | 44 | Human activity | [49] | |
Paraguay |
|
120 | 37 | Human activity and volcanic ash deposition environment | [43] |
Lao PDR | Vientiane | 24.4 | 3 | Reducing environment | [17] |
Borikhamxay | 30 | 7 | Reducing environment | ||
Champasack | 25.6 | 27 | Reducing environment | ||
Attapeu | 31.6 | 10 | Reducing environment | ||
Myanmar | Ayeyarwady | 630 | 55 | Reductive dissolution of Fe oxyhydroxides | [49] |
Mexico | La Laguna Region | 5000 | 29 | Adsorption or coprecipitation on iron oxides, clay-mineral surfaces, and organic carbon | |
Zacatecas | 75.4 | 182 | Geological origin, water–rock interaction | [49] | |
Nepal | Nawalparasi | 2620 | 18,000 | Seasons and climate change, water–rock interaction | |
Pakistan | Larkana Sindh, | 318 | 58 | pH 6.8–8.1 | [62] |
Punjab | 655 | 141 | pH 7.0–9.3 | [63] | |
Spain | Duero Cenozoic Basin | 613 | 514 | pH 5.87–1.58 | [64] |
Thailand | Suphan Buri | 5000 | 21 | pH 5.20–5.90; Eh 250–370 mV | [16] |
USA | San Joaquin Valley, California | 148.5 | 4983 | Arid and semi-arid basins; alluvial, fluvial, and lacustrine deposits; pH > 7.8; reducing conditions | [65] |
Lahontan Valley, in Churchill County, Nevada | 4100 | 59 | Lacustrine sediments | [66] | |
Vietnam | Mekong Delta | 850 | 109 | pH 7.22–8.63 | [49] |
In Africa, high-As groundwater has been found in only a few areas across the continent, primarily in the western and southern regions, more due to insufficient research rather than a shortage of problems [67]. Twenty countries in Africa have recorded high concentrations of arsenic in groundwater, including Botswana, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, and Ghana [67]. The maximum concentration of As in groundwater in Burkina Faso was 1630 μg/L, while an analogous maximum concentration of 1760 μg/L was detected in groundwater in Ghana [56,73].
This entry is adapted from the peer-reviewed paper 10.3390/w16030478