Origin of Hexavalent Chromium in Drinking Water Wells from the Piedmont Aquifers of North Carolina
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2016-12-13
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Hexavalent chromium [Cr(VI)] is a known pulmonary carcinogen. Recent detection of Cr(VI) in drinking water wells in North Carolina has raised public concern about contamination of drinking water wells by nearby coal ash ponds. Here we report, for the first time, the prevalence of Cr and Cr(VI) in drinking water wells from the Piedmont region of central North Carolina, combined with a geochemical analysis to determine the source of the elevated Cr(VI) levels. We show that Cr(VI) is the predominant species of dissolved Cr in groundwater and elevated levels of Cr and Cr(VI) are found in wells located both near and far ( > 30 km) from coal ash ponds. The geochemical characteristics, including the overall chemistry, boron to chromium ratios, and strontium isotope ( 87 Sr/ 86 Sr) variations in groundwater with elevated Cr(IV) levels, are different from those of coal ash leachates. Alternatively, the groundwater chemistry and Sr isotope variations are consistent with water-rock interactions as the major source for Cr(VI) in groundwater. Our results indicate that Cr(VI) is most likely naturally occurring and ubiquitous in groundwater from the Piedmont region in the eastern United States, which could pose health risks to residents in the region who consume well water as a major drinking water source.
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Vengosh, A, R Coyte, J Karr, JS Harkness, AJ Kondash, LS Ruhl, RB Merola, GS Dywer, et al. (2016). Origin of Hexavalent Chromium in Drinking Water Wells from the Piedmont Aquifers of North Carolina. Environmental Science and Technology Letters, 3(12). pp. 409–414. 10.1021/acs.estlett.6b00342 Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/15584.
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Avner Vengosh
Avner Vengosh is a Distinguished Professor and Nicholas Chair of Environmental Quality at the Nicholas School of the Environment. He is the chair of the Division of Earth and Climate Sciences. Professor Vengosh and his team have studied the energy-water nexus, conducting pioneer research on the impact of hydraulic fracturing and coal ash disposal on the quantity and quality of water resources in the U.S. and China. He has also investigated the sources and mechanisms of water contamination in numerous countries across the globe, including salinity and radioactivity in the Middle East, uranium in India, fluoride in Eastern Africa, arsenic in Vietnam, and hexavalent chromium in North Carolina and China. As part of these studies, his team has developed novel geochemical and isotopic tracers that are used as fingerprints to delineate the sources of water contamination and evaluate potential risks for human health. Currently, his team is engaged in studying phosphate rocks geochemistry and the impact of fertilizers on soil and water quality, unconventional sources of critical raw materials, and potential environmental effects of lithium mining from hard rocks and brines. He is a Fellow of the Geological Society of America (GSA) and International Association of Geochemistry (IAGC). In 2019, 2020 and 2021 he was recognized as one of the Web of Science Highly Cited Researchers. He serves as an Editor of GeoHealth and on the editorial board of the journal Environmental Science and Technology. He has published 171 scientific papers in leading international journals. His recent cross-disciplinary book “Water Quality Impacts of the Energy-Water Nexus” (Cambridge University Press, 2020) provides an integrated assessment of the different scientific and policy tools around the energy-water nexus. It focuses on how water use, and wastewater and waste solids produced from fossil fuel energy production affect water quality and quantity. Summarizing cutting edge research, the book describes the scientific methods for detecting contamination sources in the context of policy and regulations.
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