Correlation of arsenic level in drinking water and hair of male respondents [chapter]

Amna Shafiq*1, Alina Shabbir2
2020 Zenodo  
Objective: To find out the correlation between arsenic concentration in drinking water and biological samples of young male respondents. Method: The cross-sectional study was conducted at a tertiary care hospital in Punjab, Pakistan, from March 2018 to February 2019, and comprised biological samples i.e. hair of young males aged 15-25 years from Sheikhupura district of the Punjab province. The study questionnaire was designed to assess the general health status of the subjects as well. Drinking
more » ... water samples were collected from the houses of those who volunteered to fill up the questionnaire and gave hair samples for the study. Acid digestion method was used to pre-treat the water and hair samples for the analysis of arsenic content. Atomic absorption spectrophotometer method was used to measure arsenic concentration. SPSS 13 was used for data analysis. Results: There were 100 subjects and as many water samples. Overall, 46(46%) respondents had a range of health problems, including acne, skin lesions, allergies and respiratory problems. The average arsenic concentration was higher in water samples of tehsil Sheikhupura (67.11±3.8μg/L) and Sharaqpur (61.65± 3.3μg/L) than Muridke (41.7±1.5 μg/L), Ferozwala (40.79± 1.3 μg/L) and Safdarabad (29.7± 0.5 μg/L) (p< 0.05). Positive correlation was established between arsenic in drinking water and hair samples with respect to area and age (p<0.05). Conclusion: The presence of arsenic in drinking water was found to be likely affecting general metabolism and its accumulation in biological tissues. Keywords: Arsenic, Drinking water, Hair, Male respondents.
doi:10.5281/zenodo.4446634 fatcat:kzwxuygb2nc2fpt2h3cgumf2b4