Source apportionment and health risk assessment of heavy metals in groundwater of rural area: a case study in Huaibei plain, China

It is essential to effectively identify the sources and health risks of heavy metals in groundwater in rural areas. Therefore, the sources and health risks of heavy metals in groundwater in rural areas of Huaibei Plain were investigated. The results showed that the mean concentrations of Cr, Fe, Mn, Cu, Zn, Ni, As, Cd, and Pb were 0.38, 86.48, 90.94, 0.20, 0.97, 1.18, 0.009 and 0.16 μg/L. Multivariate statistical analysis combined with positive matrix factorization (PMF) was used to quantitatively identify four sources (agricultural activities (24.01%), industrial activities (22.27%), natural sources (26.45%), and traffic sources (27.28%)). The probabilistic health risk assessment results based on Monte Carlo simulation showed that the non-carcinogenic risk for adults and children was negligible. However, 17.52% of children and 1.99% of adults exceeded the maximum acceptable safety limit (1.0E-6) for cancer risk. Sensitivity analysis showed that daily intake, Cr, and Fe were the main factors influencing the health risk assessment results. These results have important implications for groundwater management in rural areas of the Huaibei Plain.