Fluoride contamination in water is a major problem across the globe, with health hazards such as dental and skeletal fluorosis. Most earlier studies are confined to local or regional scales. As the problem has serious socioeconomic implications, there is a need for a global perspective. Thus, here we review worldwide research for nearly a century on fluoride contamination in water. We investigated the distribution of fluoride contamination in water, its sources, mobilization and association. The major findings are: (1) Anomalous fluoride concentration in groundwater is mainly confined to arid and semiarid regions of Asia and North Africa. (2) The geogenic sources of fluoride in water are mainly fluorine-bearing minerals in rocks and sediments, whereas anthropogenic sources of fluoride in water are mainly pesticides and industrial waste. (3) Fluoride mobilization from geogenic sources is mainly controlled by alkalinity and temperature. (4) Fluoride occurrence in water is associated with ions such as sodium, arsenic chloride and bicarbonate. There are few associations of fluoride in water with calcium and magnesium.

Worldwide contamination of water by fluoride

In the present study, the geochemical characteristics of groundwater and drinking water quality has been studied. 24 groundwater samples were collected and analyzed for pH, electrical conductivity, total dissolved solids, carbonate, bicarbonate, chloride, sulphate, nitrate, calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium and total hardness. The results were evaluated and compared with WHO and BIS water quality standards. The studied results reveal that the groundwater is fresh to brackish and moderately high to hard in nature. Na and Cl are dominant ions among cations and anions. Chloride, calcium and magnesium ions are within the allowable limit except few samples. According to Gibbs diagram, the predominant samples fall in the rock–water interaction dominance and evaporation dominance field. The piper trilinear diagram shows that groundwater samples are Na–Cl and mixed CaMgCl type. Based on the WQI results majority of the samples are falling under excellent to good category and suitable for drinking water purposes.

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Hydro-geochemistry and application of water quality index (WQI) for groundwater quality assessment, Anna Nagar, part of Chennai City, Tamil Nadu, India

Study on chemical characteristics of groundwater and impacts of groundwater quality on human health, plant growth, and industrial sector is essential to control and improve the water quality in every part of the country. The area of the Varaha River Basin is chosen for the present study, where the Precambrian Eastern Ghats underlain the Recent sediments. Groundwater quality is of mostly brackish and very hard, caused by the sources of geogenic, anthropogenic, and marine origin. The resulting groundwater is characterized by Na+ > Mg2+ > Ca2+ : \( {\text{HCO}}_3^{ - } \) > Cl− > \( {\text{SO}}_4^{{2 - }} \), Na+ > Mg2+ > Ca2+ : \( {\text{HCO}}_3^{ - } \) > Cl− > \( {\text{SO}}_4^{{2 - }} \) > \( {\text{NO}}_3^{ - } \), Na+ > Mg2+ > Ca2+ : \( {\text{HCO}}_3^{ - } \) > Cl−, and Na+ > Mg2+ > Ca2+ : Cl− > \( {\text{HCO}}_3^{ - } \) > \( {\text{SO}}_4^{{2 - }} \) facies, following the topographical and water flow-path conditions. The genetic geochemical evolution of groundwater (\( {\text{HCO}}_3^{ - } \) and Cl−–\( {\text{HCO}}_3^{ - } \) types under major group of \( {\text{HCO}}_3^{ - } \)) and the hydrogeochemical signatures (Na+/Cl−, >1 and \( {\text{HCO}}_3^{ - } \)/Cl−, <1) indicate that the groundwater is of originally fresh quality, but is subsequently modified to brackish by the influences of anthropogenic and marine sources, which also supported by the statistical analysis. The concentrations of total dissolved solids (TDS), TH, Mg2+, Na+, K+, \( {\text{HCO}}_3^{ - } \), Cl−, \( {\text{NO}}_3^{ - } \), and F− are above the recommended limits prescribed for drinking water in many locations. The quality of groundwater is of mostly moderate in comparison with the salinity hazard versus sodium hazard, the total salt concentration versus percent sodium, the residual sodium carbonate, and the magnesium hazard, but is of mostly suitable with respect to the permeability index for irrigation. The higher concentrations of TDS, TH, \( {\text{HCO}}_3^{ - } \), Cl−, and \( {\text{SO}}_4^{{2 - }} \) in the groundwater cause the undesirable effects of incrustation and corrosion in many locations. Appropriate management measures are, therefore, suggested to improve the groundwater quality.

Chemical characteristics of groundwater and assessment of groundwater quality in Varaha River Basin, Visakhapatnam District, Andhra Pradesh, India

Assessment of the impact of anthropogenic activities on the groundwater hydrology and chemistry in Tarsus coastal plain (Mersin, SE Turkey) using fuzzy clustering, multivariate statistics and GIS techniques

Fluoride contamination in the groundwater has got great attention in last few decades due to their toxicity, persistent capacity and accumulation in human bodies. There are several sources of fluoride in the environment and different pathways to enter in the drinking water resources, which is responsible for potential effect on human health. Presence of high concentration of fluoride ion in groundwater is a major issue and it makes the water unsuitable for drinking purpose. Availability of fluoride in groundwater indicates various geochemical processes and subsurface contamination of a particular area. Fluoride-bearing aquifers, geological factors, rate of weathering, ion-exchange reaction, residence time and leaching of subsurface contaminants are major responsible factors for availability of fluoride in groundwater. In India, several studies have reported that the groundwater of several states are contaminated with high fluoride. The undesirable level of fluoride in groundwater is one of the most natural groundwater quality problem, which affects large portion of arid and semiarid regions of India. Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, and West Bengal are the relatively high-fluoride-contaminated states in India. Chronic ingestion of high doses of fluoride-rich water leads to fluorosis on human and animal. Over 66 million Indian populations are at risk due to excess fluoride-contaminated water. Therefore, groundwater contamination subject to undesirable level of fluoride needs urgent attention to understand the role of geochemistry, hydrogeology and climatic factors along with anthropogenic inputs in fluoride pollution.

Groundwater fluoride contamination, probable release, and containment mechanisms: a review on Indian context.

Hydrochemical investigations of the groundwater and the seasonal effect on the chemical budget of ions along the course of the polluted river Adyar were carried out. From the geochemical results, it has been found that the seasonal effect does not change the order of abundance of both cations and anions, but it does change the concentration of various ions present in the groundwater. Among the chemical budget of ions, sodium and chloride were found to be the most predominant ions. The nitrate concentration in the groundwater ranges from 4.21 to 45.93 mg/l in pre-monsoon and in post-monsoon it ranges from 1.02 to 75.91 mg/l. The nitrate concentrations in the post-monsoon are high in some places especially in the upper stretch of the river. The intense agricultural activities near the upper stretch of the river may be an important factor for the higher concentration of nitrates in these aquifers. In order to determine the geochemical nature of water, the data was interpreted using the piper diagram wherein the results show the predominance of NaCl and CaMgCl types. Equiline diagrams, 1:1, were applied to evaluate the affinity ion relationship between various ions present in these waters. The quality of the groundwater was assessed with regard to its suitability to drinking and irrigation. A comparison of the groundwater quality in relation to drinking water quality standards shows that most of the water samples are not suitable for drinking, especially in post-monsoon period. US Salinity Laboratory’s, Wilcox’s diagrams, Kellys ratio and magnesium ratio were used for evaluating the water quality for irrigation which suggest that the majority of the groundwater samples are not good for irrigation in post-monsoon compared to that in pre-monsoon. Moreover the source of the ions in the water was examined and classified accordingly using Gibb’s diagram. The analytical results reveals that the TDS values of the pre-monsoon samples were found to be lower than the post-monsoon reflecting that leaching predominates over that of the dilution factor.

Environmental impact assessment and seasonal variation study of the groundwater in the vicinity of River Adyar, Chennai, India.

In order to achieve a better understanding of the nature of the factors influencing ground water composition as well as to specify them quantitatively, multivariate statistical analysis (factor analysis) were performed on the hydrochemical data of this area. R-mode factor analysis was carried out on the geochemical results of the 79-groundwater samples and the factor scores were transferred to areal maps. Fundamental chemical parameters of the groundwater have been compounded together for characterizing and interpreting a few empirical hydrogeochemical factors controlling the chemical nature of water. R-mode factor analysis reveals that the groundwater chemistry of the study area reflects the influence of anthropogenic activities, silicate weathering reactions, precipitation, dissolution and subsequent percolation into the groundwater. The data have been put into few major factors and the seasonal variation in the chemistry of water has been clearly brought out by these factors. Factor scores were transferred to contour diagrams and the factor score analysis has been used successfully to delineate the stations under study with various factors and the seasonal effect on the sample stations.

P. Periakali

Papers

Environmental impact assessment and seasonal variation study of the groundwater in the vicinity of River Adyar, Chennai, India.

Characterization and evaluation of the factors affecting the geochemistry of groundwater in Neyveli, Tamil Nadu, India