Nitrate Pollution in the Groundwater of Bangladesh: An Emerging Threat

Md. Iftakharul Muhib, Mir Mohammad Ali, Shafi M. Tareq and Md. Mostafizur Rahman ()
Additional contact information
Md. Iftakharul Muhib: Laboratory of Environmental Health and Ecotoxicology, Department of Environmental Sciences, Jahangirnagar University, Dhaka 1342, Bangladesh
Mir Mohammad Ali: Department of Aquaculture, Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka 1207, Bangladesh
Shafi M. Tareq: Department of Environmental Sciences, Jahangirnagar University, Dhaka 1342, Bangladesh
Md. Mostafizur Rahman: Laboratory of Environmental Health and Ecotoxicology, Department of Environmental Sciences, Jahangirnagar University, Dhaka 1342, Bangladesh

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 10, 1-20

Abstract: Access to safe potable water is one of the most significant challenges in an environmentally vulnerable country like Bangladesh. The presence of high concentrations of nitrate in groundwater can deteriorate its quality and pose serious health threats. A review was conducted to evaluate the current status of overall nitrate concentrations in different districts (35 out of 64 districts) of Bangladesh based on available published data. Human Health Risk Analysis (HHRA) and nitrate pollution index (NPI) were calculated to illustrate the level of chronic risk and degree of pollution among the population of the studied districts. The HHRA model predicted that the adult population of 48.57% districts and the child population of 56.25% districts were found to be facing potential health risks associated with elevated nitrate consumption. The NPI results revealed that at least 45.72% of the studied districts were characterized by light to very significant nitrate pollution loads. It can be concluded that the outcomes of this systematic study would draw the attention of policymakers and the population of all districts and enable them to take effective measures in preserve groundwater resources in Bangladesh and prevent long-term, complex diseases.

Keywords: groundwater; nitrate; pollution; health risk; bangladesh (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/10/8188/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/10/8188/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:10:p:8188-:d:1149577

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().