Groundwater geochemistry and health: an overview

Abstract

The natural geological and geochemical environment, in addition to providing beneficial mineral content and bioessential elements to groundwaters, may also give rise to undesirable or toxic properties through a deficiency or an excess of various elements. In this paper the controls on the release of toxic elements are considered together with the geochemical conditions that give rise to excess and deficiency. Many studies have pointed towards an inverse correlation between water hardness and cardiovascular disease and the associated mobility of metals in soft waters may also be a contributory factor. Under acidic conditions Al and Be as well as other metals may be released, whilst changes in redox conditions as well as pH will affect the mobility of Fe, Mn and As in particular. Some potentially toxic elements such as Ba and F are usually held at acceptable concentrations in groundwaters by the respective solubility controls of barite and fluorite; quality problems arise from these elements when groundwaters contain respectively low sulphate or low calcium concentrations. Deficiencies of Se and I (as well as F) in groundwater are related to the low geochemical abundance of these elements in certain environments. In the context of groundwater pollution it is important first to define the natural baseline concentrations of key elements of health importance.