Assessment of Heavy Metal Contamination in Drinking Water Sources Using Physicochemical Parameters and One Health Risk Indices
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Background: Comparisons with individual drinking-water guideline values may not adequately characterize the potential combined effects of simultaneous exposure to multiple metals. Objective: To compare physicochemical characteristics, metal concentrations, and screening-level adult non-carcinogenic risk across five drinking-water source categories. Methods: In this cross-sectional environmental assessment, 100 samples were collected from hand pumps, borewells, tap-water supplies, bottled water, and filtered-water units in urban, peri-urban, and rural locations within a region of Pakistan. Physical parameters were measured using calibrated probes, and lead, cadmium, chromium, arsenic, nickel, copper, zinc, iron, and manganese were quantified by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Chronic daily intake, hazard quotients, and total hazard indices were calculated for an adult oral-ingestion scenario. Results: Mean pH, total dissolved solids, and turbidity were within the guideline values used for all source categories. Mean concentrations of all nine metals also remained below their respective individual guideline values. Corrected aggregate calculations produced an HI above 1.0 for every category, ranging from 1.1554 for hand-pump water to 1.3286 for filtered water. Arsenic was the dominant contributor, with HQ values of 0.6333-0.7667, followed by chromium at 0.2233-0.2767. Conclusion: Individual mean concentrations were generally within guideline values, but the aggregate screening estimates indicated a need for confirmatory sample-level monitoring. The results do not establish clinical toxicity or filtration failure but support multi-contaminant surveillance and paired evaluation of treatment and distribution systems
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