Abstracto

Toxic Effects of Arsenic in Industrial Areas of Kanpur Nagar, (U.P.), India

Kritika Tripathi, Pradeep Kumar, Anu Singla

Arsenic concentration in drinking water supplies in industrial areas of Kanpur Nagar, Uttar Pradesh, India is high because of the presence of industrial wastes and runoff from agricultural land. The contamination of drinking water supplies with arsenic causes major health problem. Several studies have investigated long term exposure to environmental arsenic concentration using hair and nails. In the present study an attempt has been made to estimate the level of arsenic in drinking water, hair and nail of population living in industrial areas of Kanpur Nagar. Analysis was carried out by Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (AAS) for arsenic. This study reveals that in the arsenic affected areas of Kanpur, the concentration of arsenic in drinking water supplies should be monitored to evaluate the arsenic poisoning. We found the arithmetic mean of arsenic level is 2.4331, 0.5332 and 0.40604 in water, hair and nail respectively.