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Hydrochemical characteristics and quality

evaluation of groundwater in terms of health risks
in Luohe aquifer in Wuqi County of the Chinese
Loess Plateau, northwest China

Xiaodong He, Jianhua Wu & Song He

To cite this article: Xiaodong He, Jianhua Wu & Song He (2018): Hydrochemical characteristics
and quality evaluation of groundwater in terms of health risks in Luohe aquifer in Wuqi County
of the Chinese Loess Plateau, northwest China, Human and Ecological Risk Assessment: An
International Journal, DOI: 10.1080/10807039.2018.1531693

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/10807039.2018.1531693

Published online: 20 Nov 2018.

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HUMAN AND ECOLOGICAL RISK ASSESSMENT
https://doi.org/10.1080/10807039.2018.1531693

Hydrochemical characteristics and quality evaluation of

groundwater in terms of health risks in Luohe aquifer in
Wuqi County of the Chinese Loess Plateau,
northwest China
Xiaodong Hea,b, Jianhua Wua,b , and Song Hea,b
a
School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Chang’an University, Xi’an, Shaanxi, China; bKey
Laboratory of Subsurface Hydrology and Ecological Effects in Arid Region of the Ministry of Education,
Chang’an University, Xi’an, Shaanxi, China

ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY

Groundwater is the main source of water for domestic and agricul- Received 24 August 2018
tural purposes in Wuqi County on the Loess Plateau. The present Revised manuscript
study was carried out to assess the hydrochemical characteristics accepted 30 September 2018
and quality of groundwater in the Luohe aquifer, which is a crucial
KEYWORDS
aquifer for water supply. For this study, 22 groundwater samples and Groundwater quality;
6 surface water samples were collected for analysis. Hydrochemistry nitrate; heavy metal; health
and hydrochemical facies of groundwater were analyzed using statis- risk; Loess Plateau
tical analysis and Tri-linear diagram. Gibbs diagram, correlation ana-
lysis and bivariate plots were used to investigate the natural
evolution mechanisms of groundwater and surface water. Potential
health risks of nitrate and Cr6þ through drinking water ingestion for
adults and children were estimated. The results show that the major
hydrochemical facies is ClSO4-Na, mixed ClSO4HCO3-Na and SO4Cl-
MgNa types, and high concentration of Naþ is a remarkable feature
of groundwater in the study area. Groundwater chemistry evolution
is affected by rock weathering and evaporation. The high concentra-
tions of Naþ, SO42- and TDS suggest that groundwater is not suitable
for irrigation purposes. According to WQI values, above 80% of the
groundwater samples are fair quality water. It is also found that the
groundwater of the study area is contaminated with nitrate and
Cr6þ. Children are at higher health risk than adults. Multiple meas-
ures such as establishing new centralized water supply sources and
inter-basin water transfer projects have also been proposed in this
study to guarantee the safety of sustainable groundwater supply.

Introduction
Water resources are critical elements for guaranteeing the sustainable development in
China, especially in arid and semiarid regions (Li and Qian 2018a). In these water-defi-
ciency areas, groundwater usually plays a key role in water supply, because precipitation
and surface water are limited due to dry climate conditions (Barzegar et al. 2017; Li
2016; Li et al. 2013a). However, with changing climate and the increasing human

CONTACT Jianhua Wu [email protected]; [email protected] School of Environmental Science and

Engineering, Chang’an University, No. 126 Yanta Road, Xi’an, Shaanxi 710054, China.
ß 2018 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
2 X. HE ET AL.

activities such as rapid population growth, intensive agricultural activities and swift
industrial development, groundwater environment is seriously affected. Among them,
groundwater pollution is of particular prominent, affecting the growth of crops and
even posing a threat to human health (Du et al. 2017; Li et al. 2018a; Wu et al. 2015).
There are many countries and regions taking groundwater as the main source of
water for water supply in the world. It is estimated that about 70% of drinking water in
China is groundwater (Tai et al. 2012). Therefore, a number of scholars have conducted
in-depth studies on groundwater quality using a variety of methods. Khan and Jhariya
(2017) studied groundwater quality for drinking purpose in Raipur City of India using
water quality index and geographic information system. Bouderbala and Gharbi (2017)
assessed the hydrogeochemical characterization and groundwater quality in an intensive
agricultural zone of Algeria, and found that more than 75% of the groundwater samples
were unsuitable for domestic uses and more than 20% of samples were unsuitable for
irrigation due to high salinity hazard. Drinking poor quality water for a long time can
be harmful to human health. Li et al. (2016a) appraised groundwater quality in a local
area of the Weining Plain in northwest China, and performed an assessment on human
health risk. They found that females and children faced higher non-carcinogenic risk
than males in this area. Wu and Sun (2016) assessed the shallow groundwater contam-
ination and associated human health risk in an alluvial plain of China, revealing the
important influence of industrial and agricultural activities on groundwater quality.
Chen et al. (2016) studied the nitrate contamination and associated health risk of
groundwater in an agricultural area in northwest China. All of these studies suggest the
non-negligible influence of human activities on groundwater quality.
The Loess Plateau is the main loess distribution area in China, and it contributes
large quantities of crop production (Li et al. 2018a). Due to arid and semiarid climate,
the Loess Plateau area has long been considered an ecologically fragile area in the world
that suffers from severe drought and soil erosion. It not only seriously restricts the
development of local industry and agriculture, but also brings a series of ecological
security problems which threaten people’s health (Ren et al. 2011; Wu et al. 2015; Xia
et al. 2017). Groundwater is a crucial water resource that restricts social, economic and
cultural development in the loess area due to the limited surface and precipitation.
Especially, the establishment of the Silk Road Economic Belt which links northwest
China with Eurasian countries will demand more groundwater in the arid loess areas
(Li et al. 2015, 2017a). Furthermore, groundwater quality is usually poor with high sal-
inity and other toxic elements, causing a high human health risk (Li et al. 2017b). In
the loess area, groundwater contamination due to nitrate, fluoride and trace metal has
been widely reported (Du et al. 2017; Su et al. 2017a; Xiao et al. 2015; Zhang
et al. 2018).
Monitoring data have shown that nitrate and Cr6þ in groundwater of Wuqi County
exceed the national and international standards. More seriously, the concentration of
Cr6þ tends to increase as groundwater mining continues. This issue has attracted much
attention from local government and scholars. For example, Gu et al. (2015) studied the
distribution and origin of Cr6þ in the groundwater of Wuqi County, and believed that
Cr6þ mainly came from loess. However, the study on groundwater contamination, espe-
cially on nitrate contamination and trace metal contamination are limited in this area.
 HUMAN AND ECOLOGICAL RISK ASSESSMENT 3

It is rather unclear that how the contaminated groundwater affects human health.
Therefore, the objectives of this study are (1) to study the hydrochemical characteristics
of groundwater in Luohe aquifer in Wuqi, (2) to analyze the groundwater quality for
drinking and irrigation purposes, and (3) to quantify the potential human health risks
caused by nitrate and Cr6þ pollution. This work may provide useful information for
local groundwater conservation and management, and help to promote groundwater
research in the loess area.

Study area
Wuqi County is located in the northwest of Yan’an City, Shaanxi Province. It is a part
of the Loess Plateau which is characterized by dry climate, water shortage, and fragile
environment (Li and Qian 2018b). It is geographically located between east longitude
107 380 5700 and 108 320 4900 and north latitude from 36 330 3300 to 37 270 2700 , covering
about 3791.5 km2. The loess landform is the main topographic feature and accounts for
69.4% of the whole study area. The area is high in the north and northwest, and is low
in the southeast and east, ranging from 1809 to 1233 m above the mean sea level. The
Luohe River is the main river in the study area, which is a tributary of the Yellow
River. The alluvial terrace accounts for 27.56% of the total study area.
Located in the arid Loess Plateau region of northwest China, the study area is charac-
terized by dry climate and limited rainfall. It is cold and dry in both spring and winter
with more winds and dust storms; it is hot in summer with more thunderstorms and
hail weather, and it is cool in autumn. Based on the weather data from 1981 to 2012
observed at the Wuqi weather station, the annual average temperature is 8.6  C, with
the highest and the lowest temperatures being 34.9  C and 22.4  C, respectively.
Annual precipitation in this area is approximately 443.7 mm, and the annual evapor-
ation rate is 960.7 mm, which is around twice of the annual precipitation.

Hydrogeology
The formations in the study area mainly include loess, Neogene mudstone, Cretaceous
Huanhe sandstone and mudstone, Luohe sandstone, and Jurassic mudstone. Jurassic
mudstone constitutes the regional aquiclude. The loess of this area is mainly composed
of Malan loess and Lishi loess. Malan loess can be widely observed in the research area
with the thickness ranging from 15 to 45 m. The Neogene mudstone is composed of
sandy clay and is mainly distributed along the region of valley watershed. It forms the
local aquitard between the Quaternary aquifer and the bedrock aquifer. Huanhe forma-
tion has a mixed structure of sandstone and mudstone, while Luohe formation is a thick
layer of sandstone (Gu et al. 2015).
The pore water is mainly distributed in the Quaternary alluvial layer and the loess
pores, but it does not constitute a unified water system. Bedrock pore-fissure water
mainly occurs in the Cretaceous Huanhe formation and Luohe Formation.
Groundwater in Cretaceous Huanhe formation and Luohe formation is the most
important source of water supply for the development of Wuqi County. Groundwater
in the Luohe formation is the main research object in this article. It is located
4 X. HE ET AL.

Figure 1. Groundwater sampling locations over the study area.

underneath the Huanhe formation. The thickness of the Luohe aquifer varies from 200
to 450 m. In the aquifer, the main rock types consist of quartz sandstone, feldspar
quartz sandstone, calcareous sandstone, and local mudstone intercalation. Compared
with Huanhe formation, the distribution of the Luohe aquifer is more stable. In the
whole study area, precipitation is the most important source of groundwater recharge.
However, as Luohe aquifer is overlain in most parts of the area by the Huanhe aquifer
that can be recharged directly by precipitation, the Luohe aquifer is recharged by
Huanhe groundwater through leakage except in places where Luohe aquifer is exposed
to the ground surface and can be recharged by precipitation and river water
percolation.

Material and methods

Sample collection and analysis
In this study, 22 groundwater samples were collected from boreholes (G1–G16) and pri-
vate wells (G17–G22), and six surface water samples were collected from rivers for com-
parison purpose (Figure 1). Prior to sampling, each well was pumped for least 10 min to
eliminate the influence of residual water in the wells until steady-state chemical condi-
tions were obtained. Samples were collected in pre-cleaned plastic polyethylene bottles
 HUMAN AND ECOLOGICAL RISK ASSESSMENT 5

which had been rinsed and washed 3–4 times using the water to be sampled. HNO3
was added in the sampling containers for Cr6þ to keep the consistency of Cr6þ. pH val-
ues were measured in situ using a pH meter, and the geographical location of each well
was recorded with a portable GPS device. After sampling, samples were labeled, stored,
and transported to the laboratory for physicochemical analysis, following the national
standard (Ministry of Environmental Protection of the PR China 2009). Analyzed indi-
ces include Naþ, Kþ, Ca2þ, Mg2þ, Cl, HCO3, SO42, NO3, NO2, total hardness
(TH), total dissolved solids (TDS), and Cr6þ. Naþ and Kþ were measured by flame
atomic absorption spectrometry. Cl, SO42, and HCO3 were measured by routine
titrimetric methods. TDS was measured through traditional drying and weighing
approach, and EDTA titrimetric method was used to determine Ca2þ, Mg2þ, and TH.
NO3 and NO2 were analyzed by ion chromatography method. Cr6þ was measured by
plasma emission spectrometry. The content of Kþ is usually very low in the study area,
hence Naþ and Kþ were recorded together as Na þ K.
After analysis, each sample was checked for accuracy by calculating their percentage
of charge balance errors (%CBE) which can be expressed by formula (1):
P P
cations  anions
%CBE ¼ P P  100% (1)
cations þ anions

where all cations and anions are expressed in meq/L. Generally, a physicochemical
analysis with %CBE within ±5% is perfect. The charge balance checking shows that all
samples have a %CBE within ±5%.

Water quality assessment

In the present research, the suitability of groundwater was assessed by comparing its
quality with drinking water standards established by national and international agencies
for drinking purposes [World Health Organization (WHO) 2017; General
Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection & Quarantine of China and
Standardization Administration of China 2017]. On the other hand, Water Quality
Index (WQI) was also used to determine the overall groundwater quality. WQI is an
important method of rating water quality, which provides the composite influence of
several key water quality parameters on the overall quality of water (Wu et al. 2011),
while these parameters represent the impact of natural factors and human activities on
water quality. In this method, 10 water quality parameters Naþ, Ca2þ, Mg2þ, Cl,
SO42, HCO3, NO3, Cr6þ, TDS, and pH were considered, and the permissible limits
of them for drinking purpose are 200, 75, 50, 250, 250, 120, 50, 0.05, 1000 mg/L, and
6.5–8.5 (pH), respectively (Sadat-Noori et al. 2014; WHO 2017). According to their
importance in determining the overall groundwater quality for drinking purposes, the
quality parameters were assigned weights in a scale of 1–5. Their weightages were
defined as 3, 2, 1, 4, 4, 2, 5, 5, 4 and 3, respectively (Jasmin and Mallikarjuna 2014;
Ketata et al. 2012; Nazir et al. 2016).
The water quality index (WQI) is calculated as follows:
wi
Wi ¼ Pn (2)
i¼1 wi
6 X. HE ET AL.

Ci
Qi ¼  100 (3)
Si
SIi ¼ Wi  Qi (4)
Xn
WQI ¼ SI
i¼1 i
(5)

where Wi is the relative weight; wi is the weight of each parameter; Qi is the quality rat-
ing scale; Ci is the concentration of each chemical parameter in each sample; Si is the
World Health Organization standard for each chemical parameter; SIi is the sub-index
of ith parameter; n is the number of parameters.
In this study, irrigation water quality was also analyzed by indicators such as soluble
sodium percentage (%Na), residual sodium carbonate (RSC), Kelley’s ratio (KR), and
magnesium adsorption ratio (MAR). These indicators can be computed as follows
(Ayuba et al. 2013; Didar-Ul Islam et al. 2017; Li et al. 2017c):
Naþ þ Kþ
%Na ¼  100 (6)
Ca2þ þ Mg2þ þ Naþ þ Kþ
   
RSC ¼ CO3 2 þ HCO3   Ca2þ þ Mg2þ (7)
Naþ
KR ¼ 2þ (8)
Ca þ Mg2þ
Mg2þ
MAR ¼ 2þ  100 (9)
Ca þ Mg2þ
where all ions are expressed in meq/L.

Health risk assessment

In health risk assessment, non-carcinogenic risk is defined as the probability that
human is exposed to non-carcinogenic pollutants such as NO2 and F that induces
diseases or injuries, while carcinogenic risk refers to the probability of human exposure
to carcinogenic pollutants such as Cr6þ and As, inducing carcinogenic diseases or inju-
ries. Health risk assessment is significant to support water quality evaluation and man-
agement, especially for drinking purposes (Li et al. 2016a). Considering the
groundwater quality results, NO3, NO2, and Cr6þ were selected as the target pollu-
tants in the health risk assessment of residents (adults and children) in the study area.
NO3 and NO2 were considered for non-carcinogenic risk assessment; Cr6þ was
included in the carcinogenic risk assessment. In this study, only drinking water intake
pathway was considered because all the other exposure pathways such as dermal contact
and inhalation were negligible (Chen et al. 2016; Su et al. 2017b). The non-carcinogenic
risk through drinking water intake was assessed using the oral hazard quotient (HQ) as
follows (USEPA 1989):
CDI
HQ ¼ (10)
RfD
where RfD means reference dosage for non-carcinogenic pollutant through drinking
water exposure pathway. The values of RfD for NO3 and NO2 are 1.6 and 0.1 mg/(kgd),
respectively (Li et al. 2018a). CDI represents the chronic daily intake and is calculated with
 HUMAN AND ECOLOGICAL RISK ASSESSMENT 7

the following equation:

C  IR  EF  ED
CDI ¼ (11)
BW  AT
where C is the concentration of the pollutant in groundwater (mg/L). IR is ingestion
rate of drinking water (L/d), and in this study, the ingestion rate of water is 1.5 L/d for
adults and 0.7 L/d for children under 6 years old. EF and ED are exposure frequency
(d/a) and average exposure duration (a), respectively. The recommended values of EF
are 365 days per year for both adults and children, and ED is assigned 30 years and
6 years for adults and children, respectively. BW is the body weight of a person (kg)
with 60 kg for adults and 15 kg for children. AT is the average time (d), and in the pre-
sent study, the average times for adults and children are 10,950 days and 2190 days,
respectively (He et al. 2018; Li et al. 2016a, 2018a; Ministry of Environmental
Protection of P.R. China 2014; Wu and Sun 2016).
The carcinogenic risk can be calculated as
CR ¼ CDI  SF (12)
In this expression, CR represents the carcinogenic risk; SF is the slop factor of toxic
contaminant (mg/kg/d). In this study, the value of SF for Cr6þ is 0.5 mg/kg/d (Ministry
of Environmental Protection of P.R. China 2014). The exposure duration (ED) is set at
70 years for adults and children, because the effects of carcinogenic risk from Cr6þ on
human body will last a lifetime (Li et al. 2017d; Su et al. 2017b).

Results and discussion

Hydrochemical characteristics and water types
The results of statistical analysis for groundwater and surface water in the study area
are shown in Table 1. The mean concentrations of Na þ K, Ca2þ, Mg2þ, Cl, SO42,
HCO3, and CO32 in groundwater are 315.6, 61.9, 45.7, 342.2, 367.4, 134.8, and
2.0 mg/L, respectively, and are 633.7, 146.0, 282.8, 1106.7, 983.0, 287.8, and 12 mg/L in
surface water, respectively. Obviously, the concentrations of major irons in surface water
are much higher than those in groundwater due to intense water evaporation. Based on

Table 1. Statistical analyses physicochemical parameters and drinking water standard (units: mg/L except pH).
Groundwater Surface water
Chinese WHO
Indices Min Max Mean Min Max Mean standard standard
Na þ K 123 530.8 315.6 312.5 941 633.7 200 200
Ca2þ 14 158.3 61.9 52.1 240.5 146.0 – –
Mg2þ 6.1 200.3 45.7 122.8 515.4 282.8 – –
Cl 152.4 565.4 342.2 432.5 1967.5 1106.7 250 250
SO42 144.1 1215.2 367.4 365 1580.2 983.0 250 250
HCO3 9.2 323.4 134.8 244.1 347.8 287.8 – –
CO32 0 15 2.0 0 24 12 – –
TDS 796.4 2285.7 1311.0 1488.3 5547.4 3388.6 1000 1000
TH 65.1 1000.9 342.9 635.6 2722.4 1528.9 450 500
pH 7.88 9.38 8.32 8.27 8.73 8.49 6.5–8.5 6.5–8.5
Cr6þ <0.005 0.122 0.036 0.031 0.185 0.104 0.05 0.05
NO3 1.8 118.04 61.81 11.58 180.71 80.59 20 (as NO3-N) 50
NO2– 0.004 0.435 0.125 – – – 1 (as NO2-N) 3
8 X. HE ET AL.

the means, the abundance of cations is Naþ>Ca2þ>Mg2þ>Kþ and anions is

SO42>Cl>HCO3>CO32 in groundwater. In surface water, the abundance of cati-
ons and anions are Naþ>Mg2þ>Ca2þ>Kþ, and Cl>SO42>HCO3>CO32, respect-
ively. Naþ is the dominant cation, which ranges from 123.0 to 530.8 mg/L in
groundwater and from 312.5 to 941 mg/L in surface water. Naþ in the groundwater usu-
ally comes from the dissolution of silicates and evaporites (Li et al. 2013a). In addition,
the higher concentration of Naþ than Ca2þ in groundwater may also be influenced by
cation exchange (Li et al. 2010; Krishna kumar et al. 2015). In anion, Cl and SO42
are predominant anions in both groundwater and surface water, and the difference is
that the concentrations of Cl and SO42 in surface water are much higher than those
in groundwater due to intense evaporation.
High concentrations of Naþ, SO42, and Cl in groundwater are associated with high
TDS. Groundwater can be divided into freshwater (TDS <1000 mg/L), brackish water
(1000 < TDS <3000 mg/L), and salt water (3000 < TDS <10,000 mg/L). For all ground-
water samples, the mean of TDS is 1311.0 mg/L. The maximum is 2285.7 mg/L and was
detected in sample G20, which is located in the northwest of the study area, while the
minimum is 796.4 mg/L. In this area, all groundwater samples belong to brackish water,
except only three water samples which belong to fresh water. Compared with ground-
water, higher concentration of TDS was measured in surface water with an average of
3388.6 mg/L, which belong to brackish and salt water.
The TH was measured in the range of 61.5–1000.9 mg/L in groundwater and
635.6–2722.4 mg/L in surface water. Most of the groundwater samples belong to moder-
ately hard water (150 < TH <300 mg/L) and hard water (300 < TH <450 mg/L) catego-
ries. The TH values of all surface water samples exceed the limit of drinking standard
(450 mg/L) due to high concentrations of Mg2þ and Ca2þ. The high concentrations of
Ca2þ and Mg2þ produced a maximum of TH in G22, which may be due to the dissol-
ution of calcite and dolomite in this area. Most groundwater and surface water samples
are slightly alkaline, with pH ranging from 7.88 to 9.38 (mean 8.32) in groundwater and
from 8.27 to 8.73 (mean 8.49) in surface water. In the groundwater samples, the pH val-
ues of most samples are within 7.88 to 8.48, only one water sample is 9.38 measured in
G7. It is worth noting that the minimum of HCO3 (9.2 mg/L) was detected in G7. The
pH is usually negatively correlated with HCO3, because higher concentration of hydro-
gen ion in water (lower pH) can accelerate carbonate dissolution (Li et al. 2013b).
Piper trilinear diagram (Piper 1944) was used to illustrate the relative concentrations
of different ions and hydrochemical types. Figure 2 indicates the dominance of Naþ in
the cations and Cl and SO42 in anions in groundwater of the study area. Based on
Piper trilinear diagram, five main hydrochemical types were identified in groundwater:
ClSO4-Na (73%), SO4Cl-MgNa (9%), ClSO4-NaMg (9%), ClSO4HCO3-Na (4.5%),
and SO4-Na (4.5%). In surface water, ClSO4-NaMg is the primary type. It also indi-
cates that groundwater and surface water have similar hydrochemical types.

Natural evolution mechanisms of groundwater

To quantitatively analyze the global surface water evolution, Gibbs (1970) proposed the
Gibbs diagram, which divides the corresponding controlling factors of surface water
 HUMAN AND ECOLOGICAL RISK ASSESSMENT 9

Figure 2. Tri-linear diagram of collected groundwater and surface water samples.

into three types: evaporation dominance, rock dominance, and precipitation dominance.
It can be used not only to analyze the ion origin of surface water, but also to analyze
the ion origin of groundwater (Li et al. 2016b). As shown in Figure 3, the surface water
samples fall into the evaporation dominance zone, suggesting that the evaporation is a
main factor regulating the evolution of surface water chemistry. Compared with surface
water, most of the groundwater samples are plotted in the middle to the right part of
the diagrams, indicating that the groundwater chemistry evolution is affected by both
rock weathering and evaporation crystallization. Because of the semiarid climate condi-
tions in the study area, the effect of atmospheric precipitation on the chemical composi-
tions of groundwater is rather limited. It also suggests that Naþ is the major cation in
groundwater and a major contributor to high groundwater salinity, because the values
of Naþ/(NaþþCa2þ) for all samples exceed 0.6 (Su et al. 2017a). In Figure 3b, Cl/
(ClþHCO3) in all groundwater samples exceeds 0.5, indicating that halite dissolution
is the major rock weathering source.
The dissolution of halite will release equal molar of Naþ and Cl into the ground-
water, which means that plots should bear a linear relationship in the bivariate diagram
of Naþ and Cl (Li et al. 2018b). In the Figure 4a, it shows that most plots are under
10 X. HE ET AL.

Figure 3. Gibbs diagrams: (a) TDS versus Na/(Na þ Ca) and (b) TDS versus Cl/(Cl þ HCO3).

the 1:1 straight line, indicating Naþ and Kþ is not only sourced from halite but also
from other minerals or processes such as cation exchange. The dissolution of halite can
be expressed as R1.
NaCl ! Naþ þCl (R1)

CaSO4 ! Ca2þ þSO4 2 (R2)

CaMgðCO3 Þ2 þ2H2 O þ 2CO2 ! Ca2þ þMg2þ þ4HCO3  (R3)
þ 
CaCO3 þH ! Ca þHCO3 2þ
(R4)
2þ 2
All points of the samples are plotted above the 1:1 line of Ca and SO4 graph
(Figure 4b) with SO42 exceeding Ca2þ, indicating that the dissolution of gypsum is not
the sole of Ca2þ and SO42 (R2). Cation exchange may also affect the concentration of
Ca2þ in groundwater. The relationship between Ca2þþMg2þ and HCO3 demonstrates
the contribution of the dissolution of carbonates minerals such as dolomite (R3) to
groundwater chemistry (Li et al. 2016b). However, over half of the plots are situated
above the 1:1 line, indicating that dolomite dissolution is not the sole source of Ca2þ,
and calcite dissolution may be another source of Ca2þ (R4). In Figure 4c, it shows that
majority of the samples fall on the upper left of 2:1 line, implying the excess of Ca2þ
and Mg2þ over HCO3. It can be inferred that the Ca2þ and Mg2þ in the groundwater
is mainly derived from the dissolution of silicate and sulfate minerals.
The cation exchange between Naþ and Ca2þ (Mg2þ) is also an important natural
process that may increase the concentration of Naþ in groundwater. In this study, the
bivariate diagram of (Ca2þþMg2þHCO3SO42) versus (NaþþKþCl) was used
to study the process of cation exchange (Li et al. 2016b; Subba Rao et al. 2017). As
shown in Figure 4d, the relation between (Ca2þþMg2þHCO3SO42) and
 HUMAN AND ECOLOGICAL RISK ASSESSMENT 11

Figure 4. Relationships between parameters and bivariate plots indicating ion exchange (a) Cl vs
NaþþKþ, (b) SO42 vs Ca2þ, (3) Ca2þþMg2þ vs HCO3, and (d) NaþK-Cl against CaþMg-HCO3-SO4

(NaþþKþCl) is linear with a slope of 0.893 (r ¼ 0.98), implying that cation

exchange does exist between Naþ and Ca2þ (Mg2þ).

Other contaminants
Nitrate and nitrite are two significant contaminants in groundwater, especially in agri-
cultural areas. Groundwater contamination caused by nitrate and nitrite is a global
problem. High nitrate concentration in drinking water presents a major hazard to
human health, and the main reason causing the threat to human health is due to the
reduction of nitrate to nitrite in the human gut. Nitrate contamination in drinking
water can cause epidemiological diseases such as blue baby syndrome in the area.
Agricultural runoff (cultivation and fertilization), landfill leachate, septic tanks leakage
and municipal rainstorm runoff are principal sources of nitrate contamination
12 X. HE ET AL.

(Alabdula’aly et al. 2010; Ma et al. 2015). NO3 and NO2 in the groundwater of the
present study vary in the range 1.8–118.04 and 0.004–0.435 mg/L, whereas the average
values in the region are 61.81 and 0.125 mg/L, respectively. Nitrate concentration in 14
groundwater samples (63.6%) exceeds the maximum allowable nitrate concentration
limit for drinking purpose (50 mg/L, WHO 2017). The mean value of NO3 is
80.59 mg/L in the surface water, suggesting a more serious nitrate pollution status than
groundwater. Serious nitrate contamination in the study area indicates higher possibility
of the occurrence of blue baby syndrome. The non-carcinogenic risk assessed in this
study indicates the possibility of local residents to be affected by the blue baby syn-
drome. The abundance of nitrite is usually very low in the groundwater. In this study,
no sample was found to have nitrite concentration exceeding the limit of drinking
standards. The high values of NO3 in groundwater were found in the middle and east
areas where agricultural activities are concentrated (Figure 5a,b). Intensive agricultural
activities such as fertilizers application and other human activities such as domestic sew-
age discharge may be the major factors leading to groundwater nitrate contamination.
Nitrate pollution is also very common in similar loess areas, because the land and cli-
mate conditions are poor in the loess areas, and a large amount of fertilizer has been
used to increase the crop yield (Su et al. 2017b; Zhai et al. 2017).
Chromium is a common heavy metal existing in nature mainly in the form of Cr2þ,
Cr3þ, and Cr6þ. Cr6þ is a significant source of carcinogens and has great harm to
human health. There are six groundwater samples that are associated with high Cr6þ
concentration exceeding the limit (0.05 mg/L), accounting for 27% of all groundwater
samples. The maximum is 0.122 mg/L, which was measured in G18 located in the cen-
tral area of Wuqi County. Compared with groundwater, the concentration of Cr6þ in
surface water is considerably higher, with an average of 0.104 mg/L. In the whole area,
Cr6þ in groundwater may be influenced by the loess texture, as loess is mainly com-
posed of silty clay which has great adsorption ability, while the Cr6þ adsorbed in loess
may originate from chrome detritus produced by weathering such as metamorphic rock
with high chromium content. As shown in Figure 5c, the concentration of Cr6þ is high
in the middle of the study area, where it is the center of the county with concentrated
population and industries. Thus, it can be inferred that human activities may be a pos-
sible reason responsible for groundwater Cr6þ contamination in this area. In addition,
Cr6þ in the surface water is obviously higher than groundwater. Therefore, groundwater
recharged by contaminated surface water may also result in the elevation of Cr6þ in
groundwater. Cr6þ also shows an increasing trend along the groundwater flow direction
(Figure 5c), indicating the effects of hydrogeological conditions on the fate and trans-
port of Cr6þ in groundwater.

Water quality assessment

Drinking water quality
The groundwater is the only fresh water resource for domestic purposes in the study
area. In the present study, national guidelines (General Administration of Quality
Supervision, Inspection & Quarantine of China and Standardization Administration of
China 2017) and WHO standards (WHO 2017) were used to assess the suitability of
 HUMAN AND ECOLOGICAL RISK ASSESSMENT 13

Figure 5. Contour maps of NO3 (a), NO2 (b), Cr6þ (c), and spatial distribution of groundwater qual-
ity for drinking based on WQI (d).

groundwater for drinking. As shown in Table 1, the standards for drinking water quality
of China and WHO require that the maximum of Naþ is 200 mg/L. There are only two
samples with Naþ falling below the limits in the all samples. The acceptable limits of
Cl, SO42, NO3, TDS, and TH for drinking purpose are 250, 250, 50, 1000, and
450 mg/L, respectively. Obviously, most groundwater samples are unsuitable for drink-
ing purposes due to excessive Naþ, Cl, SO42, NO3, and TDS. The concentration of
Cr6þ is within the acceptable level in most groundwater samples (72.7%). However, the
groundwater must be treated to meet standards before it is used for domestic purposes.
Water quality index (WQI) was calculated and the results for the water samples are
shown in Table 2. Groundwater quality is classified into five categories based on the
WQI values: excellent (WQI <50), good (50 < WQI <100), fair (100 < WQI <200),
poor (200 < WQI <300), and very poor (300 < WQI). The values of WQI in all ground-
water samples range from 75.45 to 158.14. According to the results, only four samples
were classified as “good quality water” and the rest fell into “fair quality water”. It
means that nearly 82% of the samples are not in good conditions and require treatment
14 X. HE ET AL.

Table 2. WQI value and classification of individual groundwater sample.

Samples WQI values Classification Samples WQI values Classification
G1 120.42 Fair G12 104.79 Fair
G2 117.17 Fair G13 97.19 Good
G3 132.38 Fair G14 128.32 Fair
G4 158.14 Fair G15 130.95 Fair
G5 121.45 Fair G16 116.27 Fair
G6 134.61 Fair G17 123.07 Fair
G7 75.45 Good G18 112.58 Fair
G8 88.31 Good G19 122.54 Fair
G9 105.39 Fair G20 156.44 Fair
G10 118.52 Fair G21 99.08 Good
G11 107.07 Fair G22 126.44 Fair

for drinking purposes. Figure 5d illustrates the spatial distribution of groundwater qual-
ity for drinking purposes based on WQI. As shown in Figure 5d, “good quality water”
is only locally distributed in the east and midwest of the study area and most of the
study area is covered by fair quality groundwater.

Water quality for agricultural purpose

The groundwater is also an important source of water for irrigation in this area. The
quality of irrigation water is an important influencing factor determining the quality of
soil and the productivity of crops, thus requiring comprehensive quality assessment and
sustainable development in terms of irrigation purpose (Li et al. 2018c). Common indi-
ces or indicators for assessing the suitability of water for irrigation purposes are EC, sal-
inity, sodium percentage (Na%), sodium adsorption ratio (SAR), residual sodium
carbonate (RSC), permeability index (PI), Kelley’s Ratio (KR), and magnesium adsorp-
tion ratio (MAR, Aref and Roosta 2016). In the present research, Na%, RSC, PI, KR,
and MAR were used to analyze the water quality for agricultural purposes. The concen-
tration of Naþ is an important parameter in classifying the water quality for irrigation
purposes, as it can react with soil, resulting in the clogging of particles, thereby, reduc-
ing the permeability of water (Todd 1980). %Na is a common indicator to quantify the
potential sodium hazard posed by irrigation water (Li et al. 2016c). As shown in Table
3, according to Na% only one groundwater sample is suitable for agricultural purposes,
27% of the samples fall into marginally suitable category and 68% are in unsuitable cat-
egory in the study area, suggesting that groundwater is unsuitable for irrigation in terms
of Na%. The RSC is used to quantify the impacts of high carbonate water on soil and
plant growth. In this study, RSC values for 95% of the groundwater samples are less
than 1.25, indicating suitability of water for irrigation in terms of RSC. The suitability
of water for irrigation can also be assessed by the Kelley’s ratio (Kelley 1963).
According to KR (Table 3), 82% water samples is unsuitable for irrigation. The excess
Mg2þ can affect the quality of soil, resulting in a reduction in crop production. MAR
defines the relationship between magnesium and calcium concentration in groundwater
(Ayuba et al. 2013). MAR values exceeding 50 are considered harmful and unsuitable
for irrigation use. In the analyzed groundwater samples, it is found that 41% of the
groundwater samples are unsuitable for irrigation according to MAR.
 HUMAN AND ECOLOGICAL RISK ASSESSMENT 15

Table 3. Classification of groundwater quality for irrigation purposes.

Category Grade n ¼ 22 % Category Grade n ¼ 22 %
%Na RSC
Suitable 0–30 1 4.55 Good <1.25 21 95.45
Marginally suitable 30–60 6 27.27 Medium 1.25–2.5 1 4.55
Unsuitable >60 15 68.18 Bad >2.5 0 0

KR MAR
Suitable <1 4 18.18 Suitable <50 13 59.09

Unsuitable >1 18 81.82 Unsuitable >50 9 40.91

Overall, groundwater of this area is unsuitable for long-term irrigation, considering

the high content of Naþ in the water. High concentration of Naþ is undesirable in
water, because Naþ can be adsorbed onto the soil, causing soil aggregates to disperse
and reducing its permeability (Didar-Ul Islam et al. 2017). There will be sodium hazard
if the water is used irrationally for irrigation.

Health risks assessment and management

As discussed above, groundwater quality is seriously contaminated by TDS, Naþ, SO42,
Cl, NO3, NO2, and Cr6þ. In particular, serious pollution of NO3 and Cr6þ can
pose potential health hazards to local residents through multiple exposure pathways.
Therefore, a human health risk assessment is very necessary to be carried out in this
area. Table 4 presents the statistic results of the risk assessment to adults and children
when they are exposed through drinking water intake. For the non-carcinogenic risk,
HQ >1 means the risk is beyond acceptable level, while HQ <1 indicates the risk is
acceptable. As shown in Table 4, the HQ values of NO2 range from 0.00 to 0.11 and
from 0.00 to 0.2 for adults and children, respectively, indicating negligible risks.
However, in terms of NO3, the health risk is high and cannot be ignored. The non-
carcinogenic risk of NO3 ranges from 0.03 to 1.84 for adults, with an average value of
0.97. There are 12 samples with the HQ values exceeding 1, which contributes greatly
to the total health risk. Compared with adults, the non-carcinogenic risk of NO3 is
much more serious for children. The health risk for children varies from 0.05 to 3.44
with a mean of 1.80, with 17 samples exceeding the acceptable level. The mean HQ
value of NO3 for children is nearly twice as much as adults’, implying that drinking
groundwater contaminated with nitrates could pose a more severe health hazard to chil-
dren. For the carcinogenic risk, the acceptable level is CR <1  106, which is recom-
mended by the Ministry of Environmental Protection of the P.R. China (2014). In this
study, all CR values are beyond the acceptable level for adults and children. The CR
ranges from 6.25  105 to 1.53  103 for adults and 1.17  104 to 2.85  103 for
children, indicating a high carcinogenic risk. Overall, the contamination of nitrate and
Cr6þ causes a high health risk through ingestion pathway, especially for children with
smaller body weight. Then the safety of drinking water supply for people should be con-
sidered seriously in this area and proper water treatment is urgently required.
Groundwater in Luohe aquifer plays a key role in local water supply. However, exces-
sive nitrate and Cr6þ in groundwater can cause serious health risks to local inhabitants.
Therefore, some necessary measures should be taken as soon as possible. For the nitrate
16 X. HE ET AL.

Table 4. Non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic health risk for adults and children.
Non-carcinogenic Carcinogenic

Adults Children Adults Children

Samples HQNO3 HQNO2 HQNO3 HQNO2 CRCr CRCr
G1 1.35 0 2.52 0 5.88E-04 1.10E-03
G2 0.94 0 1.76 0 6.25E-04 1.17E-03
G3 1.84 0.09 3.44 0.16 6.25E-04 1.17E-03
G4 1.4 0.07 2.62 0.14 4.25E-04 7.93E-04
G5 1.44 0.01 2.69 0.01 6.38E-04 1.19E-03
G6 1.78 0.01 3.32 0.01 7.13E-04 1.33E-03
G7 0.5 0.01 0.94 0.01 3.75E-04 7.00E-04
G8 0.63 – 1.17 – 4.25E-04 7.93E-04
G9 0.69 0.01 1.3 0.01 6.25E-05 1.17E-04
G10 1.42 – 2.64 – 3.63E-04 6.77E-04
G11 1.1 0.01 2.06 0.01 6.25E-05 1.17E-04
G12 1.16 – 2.17 – 3.75E-04 7.00E-04
G13 0.59 0.01 1.1 0.02 6.25E-05 1.17E-04
G14 0.35 0.08 0.65 0.14 6.25E-05 1.17E-04
G15 1.06 0.11 1.97 0.2 6.25E-05 1.17E-04
G16 0.26 0.01 0.48 0.02 6.25E-05 1.17E-04
G17 1.28 – 2.38 – 1.11E-03 2.08E-03
G18 0.91 – 1.69 – 1.53E-03 2.85E-03
G19 1.32 – 2.46 – 1.01E-03 1.89E-03
G20 0.06 – 0.11 – 8.75E-05 1.63E-04
G21 1.14 – 2.13 – 6.38E-04 1.19E-03
G22 0.03 – 0.05 – 6.25E-05 1.17E-04
Min 0.03 0 0.05 0 6.25E-05 1.17E-04
Max 1.84 0.11 3.44 0.2 1.53E-03 2.85E-03
Mean 0.97 0.03 1.8 0.06 4.53E-04 8.45E-04

pollution, it is crucial that less fertilizers and pesticides should be used in agriculture.
The total amount of fertilization should be strictly controlled and scientific fertilization
methods should be applied to reduce nitrogen loss. At the same time, domestic sewage
and industrial wastes should be effectively controlled and treated. For the Cr6þ contam-
ination, groundwater level restoration can reduce the percolation of contaminated sur-
face water, thus reducing the contamination of Cr6þ. Further, iron and its oxides have
strong ability to remove Cr6þ from groundwater. The contamination of Cr6þ can be
treated by chemical method. Because groundwater from private wells is rarely treated
before consumption, the establishment of centralized water supply wells may be an
alternative solution, particularly in the county and towns where the population is rela-
tively concentrated. In-situ remediation technology such as the Permeable Reactive
Barrier Technique (PRB) has good performance in heavy metal and nitrate removal in
groundwater. Based on groundwater monitoring data, PRB can be used in water sources
to prevent contamination with nitrates and Cr6þ. For a long-term plan, inter-basin
water transfer project may be an important program solving the water quality and water
quantity problems in the semi-arid area of loess.

Conclusions
On the Loess Plateau, groundwater is the primary source of water for drinking and irri-
gation. In the present study, hydrochemical characteristics and quality of groundwater
in Luohe aquifer in Wuqi County were studied. The non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic
 HUMAN AND ECOLOGICAL RISK ASSESSMENT 17

health risks of groundwater nitrate and Cr6þ contamination through drinking water
exposure pathway were assessed for adults and children. The main conclusions
are summarized:

1. The statistical analysis reveals that the abundance of cations in groundwater fol-
lows the following order: Naþ > Ca2þ > Mg2þ > Kþ, while the abundance of
anions is SO42>Cl>HCO3>CO32. The major hydrochemical type of
groundwater is ClSO4- Na, accounting for 73% of all groundwater samples. In
the study area, groundwater chemistry evolution is affected by rock weathering
and evaporation crystallisation together. Cation exchange is also an important
process influencing the hydrochemistry of groundwater.
2. Most groundwater samples are unsuitable for drinking and agricultural purposes,
because the concentrations of Naþ, SO42, NO3, and TDS are high in the study
area. Based on WQI values, almost 82% of the samples are identified as “fair
quality water” which needs treatment before drinking.
3. The health risk of NO2 can be negligible. However, Nitrate and Cr6þ can cause
non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic risks to local inhabitants, particularly for chil-
dren. The non-carcinogenic risk of NO3 ranges from 0.03 to 1.84 for adults,
with an average value of 0.97, signifying the potential health risks. What’s more,
the higher health risk caused by NO3 for children varies from 0.05 to 3.44 with
a mean of 1.80. As for carcinogenic risks of Cr6þ, all CR values are beyond the
acceptable level for adults (from 6.25  105 to 1.53  103) and children
(1.17  104 to 2.85  103), representing a high cancer risk. The health risks to
children in the study area need special attention.
4. Considering the high health risks in this area, new centralized water supply sour-
ces need to be established to supply treated groundwater to residents.
Meanwhile, groundwater quality monitoring and protection of water supply
sources should be enhanced. Based on groundwater monitoring data, PRB can be
applied to prevent contamination of nitrates and Cr6þ. For a long-term plan,
inter-basin water transfer project may be an essential method to solve the water
resources problems in this area and other similar arid loess regions.

Acknowledgment
We are also very grateful to the anonymous reviewers and the editor for their useful and con-
structive comments.

Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Funding
Financial support has been received from various agencies for the research presented in this article: the
National Natural Science Foundation of China (41502234, 41602238, 41572236 and 41761144059),
the Research Funds for Young Stars in Science and Technology of Shaanxi Province (2016KJXX-29),
18 X. HE ET AL.

the Special Funds for Basic Scientific Research of Central Colleges (300102298301), the Fok Ying Tong
Education Foundation (161098), the General Financial Grant from the China Postdoctoral Science
Foundation (2016M590911), the Special Financial Grant from the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation
(2017T100719), the Special Financial Grant from the Shaanxi Postdoctoral Science Foundation
(2016BSHTDZZ03), and the Ten Thousand Talents Program.

ORCID
Jianhua Wu http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6423-1762

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