Sustained Applications of Pesticides and Fertilizers in Sugarcane, Cotton and Wheat Cultivated Areas Causes Ground Water Arsenic Contamination - District Rahim Yar Khan, Pakistan

Islam ul Haque

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ijema.s.2015030301.13

| Peer-Reviewed

Sustained Applications of Pesticides and Fertilizers in Sugarcane, Cotton and Wheat Cultivated Areas Causes Ground Water Arsenic Contamination - District Rahim Yar Khan, Pakistan

Islam ul Haque

Published in International Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis (Volume 3, Issue 3-1)

Received: 30 January 2015 Accepted: 30 January 2015 Published: 8 March 2015

Views: Downloads:

Download PDF

Share This Article

Twitter
Linked In
Facebook

Abstract

Due to over all water scarcity situation, more reliance is made on local groundwater sources for drinking and other human needs /purposes. Most of the boreholes or shallow wells are confined to upper aquifers which are exposed to contamination from all sorts of wastewaters and run-off from agricultural field etc. Water quality monitoring from these ground water sources remained irregular, as main focus was on surface water quality monitoring . Information on seasonal water quality changes in surface and ground water was generally lacking. Natural factors facilitating introduction of arsenic into water are related to geomorphology, tectonic activities and chemical components of water bearing formations (Tong, 2002; Htay, 2004, Fengthong, 2004). Keeping in view the prevalence of arsenic in district Rahim Yar khan , a confirmatory arsenic testing was carried out and it was revealed that out of 45 samples, tested for arsenic contamination, 57.78 % were having more than 100 ppb arsenic contamination and 35.56 % were having arsenic contamination more than 50 ppb, which were higher than the WHO limits. During 2006, UNICEF installed some kind of arsenic removal technologies in the area, which were not sustainable due to lack of technical know and resources essentially needed during post project periods . At the same time no endeavors were made to ascertain the causes of arsenic prevalence for having sustainable alternative arsenic free water sources. The areas was rich for agricultural activities, with sustained use of pesticides and fertilizers . A well planned soil investigation process was carried out upto the depth of 387 feet to find out the existence of arseno-pyrites, the major cause of arsenic contamination. All the soil samples were analyzed in the laboratory by using XRD & XRF equipment. The soil investigation analysis, clearly indicated the absence of arseno-pyrites which could have been responsible for ground water arsenic contamination in the area. This very fact indicates that arsenic contamination was due to leaching of pesticides and chemicals , as cotton, being a major cash crop of Pakistan, consumes more than 70 % pesticides being used in the country and at least a dozen spray sessions are made during a single harvesting season September to November. Therefore keeping in view the above findings, a deep bore hole was installed up to the depth of 387 feet and arsenic contamination at 240 feet depth, was 5-10 ppb, which is within the permissible limits. The deep bore hole was monitored for complete one year and arsenic contamination was found to be within the limits. Thus, deep bore holes are one of the safe alternative drinking water sources, provided soil strata in arsenic hit areas is investigated prior to installing any arsenic removal technologies.

Published in	International Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis (Volume 3, Issue 3-1) This article belongs to the Special Issue Ground Water Arsenic Contamination and Action Plan for Mitigation
DOI	10.11648/j.ijema.s.2015030301.13
Page(s)	20-30
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Arsenic, Application, Aquifer, Contamination, Fertilizers, Ground Water, Pesticides, Quality, Deep Wells

References

[1]	Campos, V., 2002, Aresnic in groundwater affected by phosphate fertilizers at Sao Paulo, Brazil: Environmental Geology, v. 42, p. 83-87.
[2]	Davenport,J.R. & Peryea,F.J. (1991). Phosphate fertilizers influence leaching of lead and arsenic in a soil contaminated with lead arsenate. Water, Air and Soil Pollution, 57- 58p:101-110.
[3]	Fengthong T. 2004. Lao PDR’s Country report on development of effective management and decision making tools for the mitigation of contamination of soils, crops and water in the Greater Mekong Subregion. Training Workshop on the Development of Management and Decision-making Tools for the Mitigation of Contamination of Soils, Crops and Water in the Greater Mekong Subregion. 16-18 June 2004, Bangkok, Thailand.
[4]	Gulens et al., 1979 J. Gulens, D.R. Champ and R.E. Jackson, Influence of redox environments on the mobility of arsenic in ground water. In: E.A. Jenne, Editor, Chemical modeling in aqueous systems, ACS Symposium Series 93, Am Chem Soc, Washington, DC (1979), pp. 81–95.
[5]	Htay L., 2004. Mitigation of arsenic contamination in drinking water sources of Myanmar. Training workshop on the development of management and decision-making tools for the mitigation of contamination of soils, crops and water in the Greater Mekong Subregion, 16- 18 June 2004, Bangkok, Thailand.
[6]	Hartley TN, Macdonald AJ, McGrath SP, Zhao FJ (2013), Historical arsenic contamination of soil due to long-term phosphate fertiliser applications, Environ Pollution. 2013 Sep; 180: 259-64. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2013.05.034. Epub 2013 Jun 19.
[7]	K. Weggler, M. J. McLaughlin, and R. D. Graham, “Effect of Chloride in Soil Solution on the Plant Availability of Biosolid-Borne Cadmium,” Journal of Environmental Quality, vol. 33, no. 2, pp. 496–504, 2004.
[8]	Khan, A.H., Rasul, S.B., Munir, A.K.M., Alauddin, M. Habibuddowlah, M. and Hussam, A (2000). On two simple arsenic removal methods for groundwater of Bangladesh, In In Bangladesh Environment-2000, M.F.Ahmed (Ed.), Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon: 151-173.
[9]	Lamble and Hill, 1996 K.J. Lamble and S.J. Hill, Arsenic speciation in biological samples by on-line high performance liquid chromatography-microwave digestion-hydride generation-atomic absorption spectrometry, Anal Chim Acta 334 (1996), pp. 261–270.
[10]	Martin et al., 2000 R.R. Martin, A. Tomlin and B. Marsello, Arsenic uptake in orchard trees: implications for dendroanalysis, Chemosphere 41 (2000), pp. 635–637.
[11]	NRC (National Research Council), 1999 NRC (National Research Council), Arsenic in drinking water, National Academy Press, Washington, DC (1999).
[12]	Popovic et al., 2001 A. Popovic, D. Djordjevic and P. Polic, Trace and major element pollution originating from coal ash suspension and transport processes, Environ Int 26 (2001), pp. 251–255. SummaryPlus \| Full Text + Links \| PDF (130 K)
[13]	Prosun et al., 2002 B. Prosun, A.B. Mukherjee, J. Gunnar and S. Nordqvist, Metal contamination at a wood preservation site: characterization and experimental studies on remediation, Sci Total Environ 290 (2002), pp. 165–180.
[14]	Squibb and Fowler, 1983 K.S. Squibb and B.A. Fowler, The toxicity of arsenic and its compounds. In: B.A. Fowler, Editor, Biological and environmental effects of arsenic, Elsevier, Amsterdam (1983), pp. 233–269.
[15]	Shrestha B.R., Whitney J.W. and Shrestha K.B., editors, 2004. The state of arsenic in Nepal 2003. National Arsenic Steering Committee (Nepal), Environmental and Public Health Organization (Nepal).
[16]	Sharma A.K (2006), Arsenic Removal from Water using naturally occurring Iron, and the Associated Benefits on Health in Affected Regions, Institute of Environment & Resources Technical University of Denmark, ISBN 87-91855-07-1.
[17]	Thomas et al., 2001 D.J. Thomas, M. Styblo and S. Lin, The cellular metabolism and systemic toxicity of arsenic, Appl Pharmacol 176 (2001), pp. 127–144.
[18]	Tong H, Lin M (2002), Arsenic trioxide induced p15INK4B gene expression in myelodysplastic syndrome cell line MUTZ-1, Zhonghua Xue Ye Xue Za Zhi. 2002 Dec;23(12):638-41.
[19]	USDHHS (US Department of Health and Human Services), 2000 USDHHS (US Department of Health and Human Services), Toxicological profile for arsenic, Public Health Service, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, Atlanta (2000).
[20]	Xu et al., 1988 H. Xu, B. Allard and A. Grimvall, Influence of pH and organic substance on adsorption of As(V) on geologic materials, Water Air Soil Pollut 40 (1988), pp. 293–305.
[21]	UNICEF (2008), Arsenic Primer Guidance For UNICEF Country Offices On The Investigation And Mitigation Of Arsenic Contamination, Water, Environment and Sanitation Section Programme Division UNICEF New York, UNICEF Arsenic Primer © United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), New York, 2008 UNICEF 3 UN Plaza, New York, NY 10017, 2008.
[22]	US EPA (2006), Re-registration Eligibility Decision for Propetamphos, US EPA 2006
[23]	WHO (2013), Research for universal health coverage: World health report 2013, Publication date: August 2013, ISBN: 978 92 4 156459 5.
[24]	Water Quality Status In Pakistan Second Report 2001-2003, Pakistan Council Of Research In Water Resources Ministry of Science & Technology April 2004
[25]	Water network research, 2014- Times of India, 29 Dec, 2014).
[26]	(Shehzad Ahmad Kang-2013) - Impact of pesticides use in Pakistan agriculture: their benefits and hazards.

Cite This Article

Plain Text BibTeX RIS

APA Style

Islam ul Haque. (2015). Sustained Applications of Pesticides and Fertilizers in Sugarcane, Cotton and Wheat Cultivated Areas Causes Ground Water Arsenic Contamination - District Rahim Yar Khan, Pakistan. International Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis, 3(3-1), 20-30. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijema.s.2015030301.13

Copy | Download

ACS Style

Islam ul Haque. Sustained Applications of Pesticides and Fertilizers in Sugarcane, Cotton and Wheat Cultivated Areas Causes Ground Water Arsenic Contamination - District Rahim Yar Khan, Pakistan. Int. J. Environ. Monit. Anal. 2015, 3(3-1), 20-30. doi: 10.11648/j.ijema.s.2015030301.13

Copy | Download

AMA Style

Islam ul Haque. Sustained Applications of Pesticides and Fertilizers in Sugarcane, Cotton and Wheat Cultivated Areas Causes Ground Water Arsenic Contamination - District Rahim Yar Khan, Pakistan. Int J Environ Monit Anal. 2015;3(3-1):20-30. doi: 10.11648/j.ijema.s.2015030301.13

Copy | Download

@article{10.11648/j.ijema.s.2015030301.13,
  author = {Islam ul Haque},
  title = {Sustained Applications of Pesticides and Fertilizers in Sugarcane, Cotton and Wheat Cultivated Areas Causes Ground Water Arsenic Contamination - District Rahim Yar Khan, Pakistan},
  journal = {International Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis},
  volume = {3},
  number = {3-1},
  pages = {20-30},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijema.s.2015030301.13},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijema.s.2015030301.13},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijema.s.2015030301.13},
  abstract = {Due to over all water scarcity situation,  more reliance is made on  local groundwater sources for drinking and other human needs /purposes. Most of the boreholes or shallow wells are confined to upper aquifers which are exposed to contamination from all sorts of wastewaters and  run-off from agricultural field etc. Water quality monitoring from these ground water sources  remained irregular, as main focus was on surface water quality monitoring . Information on seasonal water quality changes in surface and ground water was generally lacking. Natural factors facilitating introduction of arsenic into water are related to geomorphology, tectonic activities and chemical components of water bearing formations (Tong, 2002; Htay, 2004, Fengthong, 2004). Keeping in view the prevalence of arsenic in district Rahim Yar khan , a confirmatory arsenic testing was carried out and it was revealed that out of 45 samples, tested for arsenic contamination, 57.78 % were having more than 100 ppb arsenic contamination and 35.56 % were having arsenic contamination more than 50 ppb, which were higher than the WHO limits. During 2006, UNICEF installed some kind of arsenic removal technologies in the area, which were not sustainable due to lack of technical know and resources essentially needed during post project periods . At the same time no endeavors were made to ascertain the causes of arsenic prevalence for having sustainable alternative arsenic free water sources. The areas was rich for agricultural activities, with  sustained use of pesticides and fertilizers . A well planned soil investigation process was carried out upto the depth of 387 feet to find out the existence of arseno-pyrites, the major cause of arsenic contamination. All the soil samples were analyzed in the laboratory by using XRD & XRF equipment. The soil investigation analysis, clearly indicated the absence of arseno-pyrites which could have been responsible for ground water arsenic contamination in the area. This very fact indicates that arsenic contamination was due to leaching of pesticides and chemicals , as cotton, being a major cash crop of Pakistan, consumes more than 70 % pesticides being used in the country and at least a dozen spray sessions are made during a single harvesting season September to November. Therefore keeping in view the above findings, a deep bore hole was installed up to the depth of 387 feet and arsenic contamination at 240 feet depth,  was 5-10 ppb, which is within the permissible limits. The deep bore hole was monitored for complete one year and arsenic contamination was found to be within the limits. Thus, deep bore holes are one of the safe alternative drinking water sources, provided soil strata in arsenic hit areas is investigated prior to installing any arsenic removal technologies.},
 year = {2015}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - Sustained Applications of Pesticides and Fertilizers in Sugarcane, Cotton and Wheat Cultivated Areas Causes Ground Water Arsenic Contamination - District Rahim Yar Khan, Pakistan
AU  - Islam ul Haque
Y1  - 2015/03/08
PY  - 2015
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijema.s.2015030301.13
DO  - 10.11648/j.ijema.s.2015030301.13
T2  - International Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis
JF  - International Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis
JO  - International Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis
SP  - 20
EP  - 30
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2328-7667
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijema.s.2015030301.13
AB  - Due to over all water scarcity situation,  more reliance is made on  local groundwater sources for drinking and other human needs /purposes. Most of the boreholes or shallow wells are confined to upper aquifers which are exposed to contamination from all sorts of wastewaters and  run-off from agricultural field etc. Water quality monitoring from these ground water sources  remained irregular, as main focus was on surface water quality monitoring . Information on seasonal water quality changes in surface and ground water was generally lacking. Natural factors facilitating introduction of arsenic into water are related to geomorphology, tectonic activities and chemical components of water bearing formations (Tong, 2002; Htay, 2004, Fengthong, 2004). Keeping in view the prevalence of arsenic in district Rahim Yar khan , a confirmatory arsenic testing was carried out and it was revealed that out of 45 samples, tested for arsenic contamination, 57.78 % were having more than 100 ppb arsenic contamination and 35.56 % were having arsenic contamination more than 50 ppb, which were higher than the WHO limits. During 2006, UNICEF installed some kind of arsenic removal technologies in the area, which were not sustainable due to lack of technical know and resources essentially needed during post project periods . At the same time no endeavors were made to ascertain the causes of arsenic prevalence for having sustainable alternative arsenic free water sources. The areas was rich for agricultural activities, with  sustained use of pesticides and fertilizers . A well planned soil investigation process was carried out upto the depth of 387 feet to find out the existence of arseno-pyrites, the major cause of arsenic contamination. All the soil samples were analyzed in the laboratory by using XRD & XRF equipment. The soil investigation analysis, clearly indicated the absence of arseno-pyrites which could have been responsible for ground water arsenic contamination in the area. This very fact indicates that arsenic contamination was due to leaching of pesticides and chemicals , as cotton, being a major cash crop of Pakistan, consumes more than 70 % pesticides being used in the country and at least a dozen spray sessions are made during a single harvesting season September to November. Therefore keeping in view the above findings, a deep bore hole was installed up to the depth of 387 feet and arsenic contamination at 240 feet depth,  was 5-10 ppb, which is within the permissible limits. The deep bore hole was monitored for complete one year and arsenic contamination was found to be within the limits. Thus, deep bore holes are one of the safe alternative drinking water sources, provided soil strata in arsenic hit areas is investigated prior to installing any arsenic removal technologies.
VL  - 3
IS  - 3-1
ER  -

Copy | Download

Author Information

Islam ul Haque

Eco-Logical Sustainability Through Environment Protection Services (Eco-STEPS), Inc, Islamabad- Pakistan

Download PDF

Sections

Plain Text BibTeX RIS

APA Style

Islam ul Haque. (2015). Sustained Applications of Pesticides and Fertilizers in Sugarcane, Cotton and Wheat Cultivated Areas Causes Ground Water Arsenic Contamination - District Rahim Yar Khan, Pakistan. International Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis, 3(3-1), 20-30. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijema.s.2015030301.13

Copy | Download

ACS Style

Islam ul Haque. Sustained Applications of Pesticides and Fertilizers in Sugarcane, Cotton and Wheat Cultivated Areas Causes Ground Water Arsenic Contamination - District Rahim Yar Khan, Pakistan. Int. J. Environ. Monit. Anal. 2015, 3(3-1), 20-30. doi: 10.11648/j.ijema.s.2015030301.13

Copy | Download

AMA Style

Islam ul Haque. Sustained Applications of Pesticides and Fertilizers in Sugarcane, Cotton and Wheat Cultivated Areas Causes Ground Water Arsenic Contamination - District Rahim Yar Khan, Pakistan. Int J Environ Monit Anal. 2015;3(3-1):20-30. doi: 10.11648/j.ijema.s.2015030301.13

Copy | Download

@article{10.11648/j.ijema.s.2015030301.13,
  author = {Islam ul Haque},
  title = {Sustained Applications of Pesticides and Fertilizers in Sugarcane, Cotton and Wheat Cultivated Areas Causes Ground Water Arsenic Contamination - District Rahim Yar Khan, Pakistan},
  journal = {International Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis},
  volume = {3},
  number = {3-1},
  pages = {20-30},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijema.s.2015030301.13},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijema.s.2015030301.13},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijema.s.2015030301.13},
  abstract = {Due to over all water scarcity situation,  more reliance is made on  local groundwater sources for drinking and other human needs /purposes. Most of the boreholes or shallow wells are confined to upper aquifers which are exposed to contamination from all sorts of wastewaters and  run-off from agricultural field etc. Water quality monitoring from these ground water sources  remained irregular, as main focus was on surface water quality monitoring . Information on seasonal water quality changes in surface and ground water was generally lacking. Natural factors facilitating introduction of arsenic into water are related to geomorphology, tectonic activities and chemical components of water bearing formations (Tong, 2002; Htay, 2004, Fengthong, 2004). Keeping in view the prevalence of arsenic in district Rahim Yar khan , a confirmatory arsenic testing was carried out and it was revealed that out of 45 samples, tested for arsenic contamination, 57.78 % were having more than 100 ppb arsenic contamination and 35.56 % were having arsenic contamination more than 50 ppb, which were higher than the WHO limits. During 2006, UNICEF installed some kind of arsenic removal technologies in the area, which were not sustainable due to lack of technical know and resources essentially needed during post project periods . At the same time no endeavors were made to ascertain the causes of arsenic prevalence for having sustainable alternative arsenic free water sources. The areas was rich for agricultural activities, with  sustained use of pesticides and fertilizers . A well planned soil investigation process was carried out upto the depth of 387 feet to find out the existence of arseno-pyrites, the major cause of arsenic contamination. All the soil samples were analyzed in the laboratory by using XRD & XRF equipment. The soil investigation analysis, clearly indicated the absence of arseno-pyrites which could have been responsible for ground water arsenic contamination in the area. This very fact indicates that arsenic contamination was due to leaching of pesticides and chemicals , as cotton, being a major cash crop of Pakistan, consumes more than 70 % pesticides being used in the country and at least a dozen spray sessions are made during a single harvesting season September to November. Therefore keeping in view the above findings, a deep bore hole was installed up to the depth of 387 feet and arsenic contamination at 240 feet depth,  was 5-10 ppb, which is within the permissible limits. The deep bore hole was monitored for complete one year and arsenic contamination was found to be within the limits. Thus, deep bore holes are one of the safe alternative drinking water sources, provided soil strata in arsenic hit areas is investigated prior to installing any arsenic removal technologies.},
 year = {2015}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - Sustained Applications of Pesticides and Fertilizers in Sugarcane, Cotton and Wheat Cultivated Areas Causes Ground Water Arsenic Contamination - District Rahim Yar Khan, Pakistan
AU  - Islam ul Haque
Y1  - 2015/03/08
PY  - 2015
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijema.s.2015030301.13
DO  - 10.11648/j.ijema.s.2015030301.13
T2  - International Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis
JF  - International Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis
JO  - International Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis
SP  - 20
EP  - 30
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2328-7667
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijema.s.2015030301.13
AB  - Due to over all water scarcity situation,  more reliance is made on  local groundwater sources for drinking and other human needs /purposes. Most of the boreholes or shallow wells are confined to upper aquifers which are exposed to contamination from all sorts of wastewaters and  run-off from agricultural field etc. Water quality monitoring from these ground water sources  remained irregular, as main focus was on surface water quality monitoring . Information on seasonal water quality changes in surface and ground water was generally lacking. Natural factors facilitating introduction of arsenic into water are related to geomorphology, tectonic activities and chemical components of water bearing formations (Tong, 2002; Htay, 2004, Fengthong, 2004). Keeping in view the prevalence of arsenic in district Rahim Yar khan , a confirmatory arsenic testing was carried out and it was revealed that out of 45 samples, tested for arsenic contamination, 57.78 % were having more than 100 ppb arsenic contamination and 35.56 % were having arsenic contamination more than 50 ppb, which were higher than the WHO limits. During 2006, UNICEF installed some kind of arsenic removal technologies in the area, which were not sustainable due to lack of technical know and resources essentially needed during post project periods . At the same time no endeavors were made to ascertain the causes of arsenic prevalence for having sustainable alternative arsenic free water sources. The areas was rich for agricultural activities, with  sustained use of pesticides and fertilizers . A well planned soil investigation process was carried out upto the depth of 387 feet to find out the existence of arseno-pyrites, the major cause of arsenic contamination. All the soil samples were analyzed in the laboratory by using XRD & XRF equipment. The soil investigation analysis, clearly indicated the absence of arseno-pyrites which could have been responsible for ground water arsenic contamination in the area. This very fact indicates that arsenic contamination was due to leaching of pesticides and chemicals , as cotton, being a major cash crop of Pakistan, consumes more than 70 % pesticides being used in the country and at least a dozen spray sessions are made during a single harvesting season September to November. Therefore keeping in view the above findings, a deep bore hole was installed up to the depth of 387 feet and arsenic contamination at 240 feet depth,  was 5-10 ppb, which is within the permissible limits. The deep bore hole was monitored for complete one year and arsenic contamination was found to be within the limits. Thus, deep bore holes are one of the safe alternative drinking water sources, provided soil strata in arsenic hit areas is investigated prior to installing any arsenic removal technologies.
VL  - 3
IS  - 3-1
ER  -

Copy | Download