Arsenic Contamination In Water From Selected Boreholes In Nairobi City County, Kenya
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Date
2021
Authors
Kiplangat, Alice S.
Mwangi, Henry
Swaleh, Sauda
Njue, Wilson M.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
European Open Science
Abstract
Arsenic is a metalloid, which may be found in surface water, ground water,
plants and rocks. In high concentrations, its compounds are considered to be
genotoxic and carcinogenic. Its levels in drinking water must be regularly
monitored and controlled. The objective of study was to determine the
concentration of arsenic in water with reference to WHO limits from selected
boreholes in Nairobi County, Kenya. Water was randomly sampled from a
total of 63 boreholes in five zones (Central, Eastern, Northern, Western and
Southern) during dry and wet season. The arsenic was analyzed by Hydride
Generation Atomic Absorption Spectrometer (HG-AAS). The results
showed that the arsenic content in borehole water during dry season ranged
between 0.00455±0.0022 and 0.01007±0.006 and in the range of
0.002057±0.0008 - 0.00744±0.0051 mg/L during the wet season. There was
significant difference (P˂0.05) in arsenic content in borehole water samples
in Central zone compared to the other zones. During the dry season, arsenic
content in water from ten boreholes (16%) and four boreholes (6%) during
wet season was found to be above the WHO recommended limit of 0.01 mg/L.
The calculated contamination factor for the borehole water ranged from
slightly arsenic contaminated in Central zone to very slightly contaminated
in the other zones during dry season. During the wet season, the borehole
water in all the five zones were very slightly contaminated with arsenic. The
pollution index showed that the boreholes in all the five zones during both
wet and dry seasons were not polluted with arsenic. Steps should be taken to
monitor and treat borehole water for domestic purposes in order to mitigate
the effect on human health due to arsenic contamination
Description
research article
Keywords
Arsenic, Borehole water, Contamination factor, Pollution index
Citation
Kiplangat, A. S., Mwangi, H., Swaleh, S., & Njue, W. M. (2021). Arsenic Contamination in Water from Selected Boreholes in Nairobi City County, Kenya. European Journal of Advanced Chemistry Research, 2(2), 1-6.