Potential Fluoride Contamination In Ground Water Of Tamnar Block, Central India

Original Text: Potential Fluoride Contamination In Ground Water Of Tamnar Block, Central India

Over use of ground water causes weathering of the bed rock elements by exposering several water borne diseases in humans. Many states (>60%) of India are suffering with fluorosis diseases due to the consumption of F- contaminated water. Fluoride contamination of the ground water of Chhattisgarh state, central India has not been investigated. Therefore, in the present work, 115 ground water samples from 14 district of Chhattisgarh state in the post-monsoon period, 2008 were collected for investigation of the F- contamination. The concentration of F- in the ground water (n = 115) is ranged from 0.7 – 17.3 mg/l with a median value of 1.9 mg/l. Among them, the ground water of Tamnar block (Raigarh district) is severely affected with the F-, Mn and Fe contents, and therefore, it was selected for the detailed investigation. The concentration variations, correlations, and sources of the F- and other elements (i.e. Cl-, NO3-, SO42-, Na+, K+, Mg2+ , Ca2+, Al, Mn and Fe) in the ground water are described.

Fluorine is a highly reactive element, and it has an important role in precipitation of various elements as minerals 1. Fluorine contents in the soil varies between 10 - 150 mg/kg, and the majority of fluorine is occurred naturally in combined forms in various rocks, soils, waters, plants, other living organisms, slags, fluxes, etc. The fluoride is severely extracting in the ground water from the bed rock and its toxicity is reflected as a disease known as “fluorosis”, and continues to be an endemic problem in the most parts of the World 2. They appear due to ingestion of F- in the range of 2 - 80 mg/l daily for a prolonged period, >10 years 2. India is among the 23 nations around the globe, where fluorosis health problems (i.e. dental, skeletal and/or non-skeletal) are continue to exist mainly due to the consumption of the contaminated water 3-28.
Abnormal level of fluoride in water is common due to weathering of the fractured hard rock pegmatite veins composing of minerals i.e. topaz, fluorite, fluorapatite, villuamite, cryolite, ferro magnesium silicate, etc. 3. Millions of people in India and other countries are exposed to excessive amounts of F- through drinking water contaminated from natural and anthropogenic sources by suffering with various types of fluorosis diseases 3-31.
The most of the minerals and coal of the country are deposited in the Chhattisgarh state. Their vast exploitation and over use of ground water leads to depletion of the ground water quality in several parts of the state. Therefore, F- contamination of the ground water of the Chhattisgarh state in the post monsoon period (December 2008) was investigated. Among them, the ground water of the Tamnar block (Raigarh district) was found to be contaminated with F- at the highest levels. Therefore, the ground water contamination of this area has been selected for the detailed investigation in the present work. The F- concentration variations, sources and co-relations with other elements in the ground water are described.

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Revised Text:

Over use of ground water causes weathering of the bedrock elements by exposing humans to several water borne diseases. Many states (>60%) of India are suffering with fluorosis diseases due to the consumption of Fluoride contaminated water. Fluoride contamination of the ground water of Chhattisgarh state in central India has not yet been investigated. Therefore, in the present work, 115 ground water samples from 14 districts of Chhattisgarh state in the post-monsoon period, 2008 were collected for investigation of the F- contamination. The concentration of F- in the ground water (n = 115) is ranged from 0.7 – 17.3 mg/l with a median value of 1.9 mg/l. Among them, the ground water of Tamnar block (Raigarh district) was severely affected with the F-, Mn and Fe contents, and therefore, it was selected for detailed investigation. The concentration variations, correlations, and sources of the F- and other elements (i.e. Cl-, NO3-, SO42-, Na+, K+, Mg2+ , Ca2+, Al, Mn and Fe) in the ground water are described.

Fluorine is a highly reactive element, and it has an important role in precipitation of various elements as minerals 1. Fluorine contents in the soil varies between 10 - 150 mg/kg, and the majority of fluorine occurs naturally in combined forms in various rocks, soils, waters, plants, other living organisms, slags, fluxes, etc. The fluoride in the ground water is severely extracting from the bed rock and its toxicity is reflected in a disease known as “fluorosis”, which continues to be an endemic problem in most parts of the World 2. This appears to be due to ingestion of F- in the range of 2 - 80 mg/l daily for a prolonged period, >10 years 2. India is among the 23 nations around the globe, where fluorosis health problems (i.e. dental, skeletal and/or non-skeletal) continues to exist mainly due to the consumption of contaminated water 3-28.

Abnormal levels of fluoride in water is common due to weathering of the fractured hard rock pegmatite veins composed of minerals, i.e. topaz, fluorite, fluorapatite, villuamite, cryolite, ferro magnesium silicate, etc. 3. Millions of people in India and other countries are exposed to excessive amounts of F- through drinking water contaminated from natural and anthropogenic sources and suffer from various types of fluorosis diseases 3-31.

Most of the minerals and coal of the country are deposited in the Chhattisgarh state. Their vast exploitation and overuse of ground water leads to depletion of the ground water quality in several parts of the state. Therefore, F- contamination of the ground water of the Chhattisgarh state in the post monsoon period (December 2008) was investigated. The ground water of the Tamnar block (Raigarh district) was found to be contaminated with F- at the highest levels. Therefore, the ground water contamination of this area has been selected for detailed investigation in the present work. The F- concentration variations, sources and co-relations with other elements in the ground water are described.

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