Human health risk assessment of groundwater in Hetao Plain (Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China)

Groundwater quality significantly affects public health. In order to better understand groundwater suitability, a total of 887 shallow groundwater samples were collected from the Hetao Plain (HP), Inner Mongolia, China; the maximum and minimum health guideline values of each element were established in this work. Subsequently, the desirability functions (DFs) theory was employed to evaluate the human health risk of groundwater. The results indicate that 780 of the samples were unsuitable for drinking purposes due to the iron, total dissolved solids (TDS), arsenic, strontium, fluoride, and manganese concentrations present, all of which exceeded their maximum guideline value (MaGV). Only 107 samples were suitable for drinking use; however, these samples also have adverse effects on human health to some extent, due to the extremely lower concentrations of nutrient elements and existence of non-nutrient elements. Based on the observed results, groundwater that is unsuitable for drinking use must undergo bacteriological treatment prior to consumption. It was necessary for residents in the western, central, and northeastern parts of the study area are required to be supplied with certain nutrient elements, such as iron, iodine, molybdenum, manganese, and lithium. According to the human health risk assessment of groundwater, the general public can safely and reasonably consume the groundwater for drinking, agriculture irrigation, and industrial purposes.