A study of Uranium contamination and the expected hazards in southwest Punjab

In recent years, concerns are being raised about the possible carcinogenicity and neurological disorders due to the ingested uranium through drinking water in southwest Punjab. Germany's Microtrace Mineral Lab has confirmed that the high level of Uranium and other dangerous heavy metals present in drinking water samples from the region is responsible for 80% of the neurologically disabled children. The present study deals with the analysis of uranium in the water samples collected from Bathinda District of Punjab. The investigations reveals that the significant percentage of the area surveyed has uranium concentrations in the ground water more than the WHO (World Health Organization) recommended limit of 15 g/L. The highest concentration of uranium 100 g/L has been investigated in the water sample from Giana village and the minimum uranium concentration value of 1.84 μg/l is found in Malkana. The average uranium concentration in water samples is found to vary from 9.330.06 μg/l in Rampura to 56. 950.13 μg/l in Bucho Mandi villages. In order to be sure about the results, a few selected samples have been re-examined using laser fluorimeter technique in the Environmental Survey Laboratory, Rajasthan Atomic Power Station of Bhabha Atomic Research Center at Kota, Rajasthan, India. The results for uranium concentration obtained using both techniques are found in fair agreement with some exceptions. The excess cancer risk due to such a high content of uranium in drinking water is found to vary from 25-154x 10-4% (1: 3974 -1: 6511) with a mean value 77x, 10-4 %, which means that at least one individual out of 13026 may be influenced by cancer. (author)