Management of Natural Resources in a Changing Environment

Water is an essential and vital component for the life support system. Since most of the human sufferings are directly related to water, man is always fascinated to explore and understand the chemical content of water. Water never exists in its purest form; as soon as it enters the atmosphere through precipitation it gathers gases, few elements and organic material before touching the earth’s surface. During its course of flow on surface and in subsurface, the water gets dissolved with ample number of ions, most of which are essential for the living organisms and some are harmful if present in high concentrations. The subsurface water, most of which originates from rainfall or surface water bodies, gains minerals during its transport and residency period of earth’s crust (Kruawal et al. 2005; Raju 2007; Wang 2013; Alam et al. 2013). During last decades, it is observed that the intensive use of natural resource and increased human activities are posing great threat to groundwater quality (Foster 1995; Mor et al. 2006).

The term ‘Tracerhydrology’ is used as a short expression for the use of tracers in hydrology. It is understood as an advanced method that allows for an integrative investigation of the hydrologic system (Leibundgut et al. 2009). Environmental and artificial tracer can be used for investigating the movement of water in the hydrological cycle. Artificial tracers are described as those elements deliberately injected into the hydrologic system (Luhua et al. 2010). By studying the motion of the injected particles, one may measure some physical processes of hydrologic system such as the escape of water from a reservoir (Evans 1983). There are more than 1,000 isotopes known for about 92 chemical elements. Most of these isotopes are called as environmental isotopes which are either stable or unstable (Leibundgut et al. 2009). The stable isotopes of hydrogen and oxygen are recognized as important traces in hydrological cycle. The heavy stable isotopic components of water, HD¹⁶O and H₂O¹⁸, occur in natural waters in concentration of about 320 and 2,000 ppm, respectively (Evans 1983). The variation of isotopic concentration is due to fractionation caused by phase changes, evaporation, condensation, precipitation, and snow and ice formation (Chidambaram et al. 2009). Isotopic fraction is affected by meteorological factors such as temperature and altitude change (Leibundgut et al. 2009). The small variations of isotopic concentrations are usually measured by mass spectrometry. In general, the isotopic abundance ratios are expressed as parts per mil of their deviations as given by (Vienna Standard Mean Ocean Water, VSMOW) where R refers to the isotopic ratio (D/H) or (¹⁸O/¹⁶O) (Machavaram and Krishnamurthy 1995). In 1954, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), in co-operation with the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), conducted a worldwide survey of oxygen and hydrogen isotope content in precipitation. Since 1961, more than 780 meteorological stations in 101 countries have been monthly collecting precipitation samples. These samples are analyzed at the isotope hydrology laboratory (IAEA 2006).

Water quality is a consequence of the natural, physical and chemical state of the water as well as any alterations that may have occurred as interference by human activity. The minerals contained in soils and rocks are also commonly responsible for the type of quality of ground water in a region. Quality of ground water has gained much importance as its quantity. Growing population, urbanization, industrialization, increased social and agricultural activities are increasing the demand of potable groundwater, as such making us to think of water in terms of quality.

The occurrence of fluoride (F⁻) concentration in groundwater is mainly due to natural or geogenic pollution and the source of contamination is often unknown (Handa 1975a; Saxena and Ahmed 2002). Geogenic contamination of groundwater depends mainly on the geological setting of an area. As rain water infiltrates through soil and reaches the water table, it can dissolve partly certain component of bedrock. The F⁻ content of groundwater can thus originate from the dissolution of fluorine-bearing minerals in the bed rock. In other words, bed rock mineralogy is a primary factor in general for the variations in F⁻ content of groundwater (Chae et al. 2007; Raju et al. 2012). F⁻ contamination of groundwater is a function of many factors such as availability and solubility of fluorine-bearing minerals, temperature, pH, concentration of calcium and bicarbonate ions in water, etc. (Chandra et al. 1981; Largent 1961). In contrast to anthropogenic pollution of surface water, geogenic contamination of groundwater is difficult to detect and even more difficult to control. The presence of excessive concentrations of F⁻ in groundwater may persist for years, decades or even centuries and can reach the food system (Todd 1980). In recent years, there has been an increased interest in F⁻ research because high concentration of F⁻ in groundwater causes adverse impact on human health. In order to mitigate the excessive F⁻ in groundwater, it is essential to determine and monitor the casual factors of enrichment of F⁻ concentration in groundwater in time and space (Ahmed et al. 2002; Raju et al. 2009).

Water is the most vital element for survival on earth. It has become one of the emerging environmental issues our ecosystems are facing today. Issues of water quantity, quality and availability are the three major concerns and are vital to the quality of life on earth. It is one of the most essential resources in our day-to-day life. It is depleting fast in rural as well as urban areas mainly because of increase in agricultural and domestic demands (Kumar et al. 2008). In water resources planning, ground water is attracting an ever-increasing interest due to scarcity of good quality subsurface water and growing need of water for domestic, agricultural and industrial uses. In a densely populated country like India, groundwater resource is in high demand. In undulating terrains, availability of water resource is of limited extent. Efficient management and planning of water resources in these areas are of utmost importance.

In India, groundwater serves about 70 % of rural population, 50 % of urban population and about 60 % of agricultural area. There are more than 20 million groundwater extraction structures in place which are being used to meet requirement for domestic, industrial and agricultural activities. There is intensive development of groundwater in certain pockets of India, which has resulted in over-exploitation of groundwater resources and led to steep declining trend in levels of groundwater. As per the assessment of groundwater resources (CGWB 2007), out of 5,723 assessment units (blocks/mandals/taluks) in the country, 839 units in various states have been categorized as “over-exploited” meaning that annual groundwater extraction exceeds the annual replenishable resource. In addition, 226 units are critical with stage of groundwater development hovering between 90 % and 100 % of annual replenishable resource.

Rivers and lakes comprise approximately 0.009 % of earth’s water but they harbour about 43 % of fish biodiversity (Nelson 2006; Helfman 2007). These fresh water systems also support various zoo-planktons and phyto-planktons which are important bio-indicators of an ecosystem. Greatest threats to freshwater ecosystems globally are: anthropogenic activities that cause habitat degradation, fragmentation, and loss; flow modifications; translocation of species outside their native ranges; over exploitation and pollution. Humans appropriate fresh water globally for direct consumption, crop irrigation, hydro-electric energy production and other purposes. The direct and indirect competition with humans for limited freshwater resources is largely why fishes and other aquatic organisms are among the most imperiled faunas on earth (Baxter 1977; Leidy and Moyle 1998; Duncan and Lockwood 2001).

Heavy metal contamination in environment is being resulted mainly from natural weathering processes and anthropogenic activities. Freshwater chromium (Cr) concentrations are dependent on soil chromium levels in the surrounding watershed areas. Extensive industrial usage of chromium leads to generation of large volumes of chromium-containing wastes that are discharged into the environment. Chromium has been known to be extremely toxic at low concentration (Waalkes et al. 1992; Bruins et al. 2000), although they have no significant biological function so far reported. Malachite Green (MG) has effective application as an anti-fungal, anti-microbial and anti-parasitic agent in food industry (Afkhami et al. 2010) but the chemical causes toxic effects to human cells with mutagenic and carcinogenic properties as well.

Anaerobic digestion is used for treating high strength organic wastewater. Since late seventies, anaerobic digestion has experienced an outstanding growth in research and full scale application, particularly for the treatment of food and beverage industry effluent and to a lesser extent for municipal wastewater (Hulshoff-Pol et al. 1998; Yu et al. 2004; Fountoulakis et al. 2004; Filik-Iscen et al. 2007). Anaerobic digestion is a complex, natural, and multi-stage process in which organic compounds are degraded through a variety of intermediates into methane and carbon dioxide, by the activity of a consortium of micro organisms. Interdependence of the bacteria is a key factor in the anaerobic digestion process (Parawira et al. 2005) and the deciding factor for quality of treated effluent as well as gas generation.

Enhanced energy security and climate change mitigation are the main drivers for the transformation of the energy system from fossil to renewable sources. Biomass has to play a key role in this transformation to a low carbon economy. Worldwide, biomass accounts for more than two thirds of all renewable energy supplies. Among biomass sources, biogas is an interesting option with a large potential, offering many exciting possibilities to supplement and therefore reduce our dependence on fossil fuels.

Arsenic (As) is a ubiquitous element found in the earth’s crust. It is now ranked first in a list of 19 hazardous substances by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry and United States Environmental Protection Agency (Goering et al. 1999; Prerna et al. 2007). Among different chemical forms of As in the environment, the most often encountered toxic forms are arsenite [As(III)] and arsenate [As(V)] (Buchet and Lauwerys 1981; Leonard 1991; Mukhopadhyay et al. 2002). The abundance of different arsenic forms and its mobility in soil depends on several factors like pH, redox potential, presence of other elements, organic matter content, texture and biotic functions therein (Woolson 1977). When environmental conditions change, the speciation and mobility of arsenic may also change. As(III) is more toxic due to its affinity to bind with functional groups, like SH⁻ and imidazolium nitrogens of different biomolecules including catalytic proteins (Krumova et al. 2008). On the other hand, arsenate (AsO₄ ³⁻) mimics phosphate (PO₄ ³⁻); thus it affects cell metabolism by interfering with phosphorylation processes (Tseng 2004).

Pollution of water with anionic contaminants represents an important environmental concern due to the toxicity of these ions and their accumulation throughout the food chain. The fresh water wealth of India is under threat due to variety of natural and human influences. The high concentration of some toxic elements in anionic state such as fluorine as fluoride, and arsenic as arsenite and arsenate, etc. is of concern as they cause serious health hazards.

Carbon-based nanoparticles have attracted much attention because of their unique properties like specific strength, lightness, electrical properties and also show several promising potential applications in biology and pharmacology. However, their growing use and mass production have raised several questions about their probable unfavourable effects on human health. For example, use of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and fullerenes are there in maximum number of consumer products containing carbon-based nanomaterials and have been reportedly found in environmental samples (Farré et al. 2010).

Hindon river is an important tributary of Yamuna river and originates from upper Shiwalik in Lower Himalayan Range (Jain et al. 2007). The river flows through Saharanpur, Muzaffarnagar, Meerut and Ghaziabad in western Uttar Pradesh and covers a distance of about 200 km before joining the Yamuna river downstream of Delhi (Jain et al. 2003).

A few species of oak found in the Himalaya are some of the largest forests forming species in the world (Singh et al. 2000). Among the various oak species that occur in central Himalaya viz., Qurecus leucotrichophora, Q. floribunda, Q. glauca, Q. semecarpifolia and Q. lanuginosa (Singh and Singh 1992), Q. leucotrichophora contributes to a greater proportion of ecosystem services than most of other species in the region (Singh 2002; Joshi et al. 2011).

A landfill is the most common method of organized waste disposal, and in developing countries like India, landfills continue to be the most commonly practised form of municipal solid waste (MSW) disposal due to their economic advantages. Bhalaswa landfill site, located in north-eastern part of Delhi, came into operation in 1993. It has an area of 21.06 acres; this land was once used for sugar cane plantation. About 6 ha is devoted to a composting facility. This is an unlined landfill, and only has a layer of waste construction material topped with soil instead of a layer of plastic required for a secure landfill. Approximately, 2,200 tonnes of MSW is buried in the landfill every day. The landfill has already reached about 22 m of height, and is past its closure date of November 2009. A very pertinent danger to human health from landfills such as Bhalaswa is the domestic use of groundwater that has been contaminated by leachate. Contaminants are leached from the solid waste as water percolates through the landfill and mixes with ground water. The heavy metals usually pose a threat in a landfill when they enter the leachate. The motivation for this study was the fact that the health risk posed by heavy metals is serious, and requires immediate remedial measures.

Rapid urbanization and the consequent changes to urban traffic characteristics such as increased volume and congestion affect pollutant build-up on road surfaces as well as the top layer of soil (Zhao et al. 2010). In such cases, surface runoff accounts for quite a considerable contribution to the total runoff from land, and carries with it various contaminants from the road surfaces, built-up areas and other settlements to the receiving waters. The runoff quality is also important in identifying the nature of biogeochemical weathering processes (Skidmore et al. 2004) and in characterizing the evolution of the drainage system (Tranter et al. 1996). This has necessitated the study of basic qualities and characteristics of organic or inorganic contaminants in the rainwater runoff all over the world (Monticelli et al. 2004; Wei et al. 2010). Metals in water and soil are involved in various sorption/desorption interactions, redox reactions and chemical complexation with inorganic and organic ligands (Li et al. 2000; Violante et al. 2010). The mobility and reactivity of metals in water and soil affect their bioavailability, toxicity and distribution in the environment (Xue and Yong 2007). The solubility during precipitation and the redistribution into water can alleviate their immobilisation by adsorption or complexing (Misra and Chaturvedi 2007).

The combustion of coal in coal-fired power plants produces several materials, including: fly ash, bottom ash, boiler slag, and flue gas desulfurization material. Together, these materials represent what is generally referred to as coal ash, or sometimes as CCBs. About 750 metric tonnes (MT) of total coal ash is produced per year globally, but less than 50 % of world production is utilized (Izquierdo 2012).

The study of particulate air pollution is interesting for a number of reasons; they involve radiation budget, chemical deposition budget, effects on human health, effects on terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems (Bodhaine 1983; Nriagu and Davidson 1986; Fenger 1999; Riga-Karandinos and Saitanis 2005). Particulate air pollution is a complex mixture of small and large particles of varying size and chemical composition (Stanier et al. 2004). Health and environmental effects of particulate air pollution strongly depend on their size and chemical composition (Wichmann and Peters 2000; Cakmak et al. 2007; Kappos et al. 2004). Many processes like solar radiation, cloud-aerosol interaction and biosphere impacts are determined by size resolved chemical composition (Meszaros et al. 1997). The characteristics and distribution of particulate air pollution are highly variable, changing spatially, temporally and with altitude and source (Ulrich 2005). Particulate matter is introduced into the atmosphere through a variety of processes including sea-salt aerosol generation, structural weathering, biologically or physically mediated volatilization, volcanism, biomass burning, fossil fuel combustion, industrial activity and incineration (Nriagu 1989). Particulate air pollution presents a formidable challenge to theoretical as well as experimental chemists and physicists (Kvetoslav 2000) and they consist of both inorganic and organic components. The inorganic part of ambient aerosols consists of sulfates, ammonium, nitrates, chlorides, iodides, crustal elements, trace metals etc. (Murphy et al. 1998). The organic component of ambient particles in both polluted and remote areas is a complex mixture of hundreds of organic compounds (Reilly et al. 1998). Since rapid urbanization and increase in population in recent years, several researchers have focused on assessment of air pollution (Praveen Kumar et al. 2005; Chandra Mouli et al. 2006).

St. Martin’s Island, a unique island of Bangladesh, is of high ecological significance as it is the only island in Bangladesh that has coral colonies in the shallows including large areas of sand dunes and mangrove formations (Tomascik 1997). It is recognized as one of the richest biodiversity hotspot in terms of marine biotic resources, unparallel in the country. The island is endowed with vast marine and land resources having global biodiversity significance. The island is a good example of co-occurrence of corals, algae, sea weeds, grasses and mangroves (UNDP 2010). Besides the ecological importance St Martin’s is one of the most attractive tourist spots in Bangladesh because of its panoramic landscapes, clear sea water, and natural treasures of coral colonies.

Lately there has been an increasing concern about uranium toxicity in some districts of Punjab State located in the North Western part of India after the publication of a report (Blaurock-Busch et al. 2010) which showed that the concentration of uranium in hair and urine of children suffering from physical deformities, neurological and mental disorder from Malwa region (Fig. 1) of Punjab State was manifold higher than the reference ranges. A train which connects the affected region with the nearby city of Bikaner which has a Cancer Hospital has been nicknamed as Cancer Express due to the frenzy generated on account of uranium related toxicity.

High level of fluoride (F) in drinking water has been recognized as a potential health hazard all over the world. In India, 17 out of 32 states have been identified as ‘endemic’ areas for fluorosis, with an estimated 25 million people impacted, and another 66.62 million people (including six million children below the age of 14) ‘at risk’ of facing health hazards due to high water-borne fluoride concentrations. After ingestion of fluoridated water, majority of the fluoride is absorbed from the stomach and small intestine into the blood stream (Whitford 1996). Approximately, 50 % of the fluoride absorbed each day by young or middle-aged adults becomes associated with hard tissues (teeth and bones) within 24 h while virtually all of the remainder is excreted (Whitford 1996). More fluoride is retained in young bones than in the bones of older adults (Whitford 1996; Horowitz 1996). Fluoride toxicity at high levels has also been associated with thyroid changes, growth retardation, kidney changes, and even urolithiasis (Dhar and Bhatnagar 2009). According to Strunecka et al. (2007), fluoride in excess amounts causes several ailments viz, metabolic disturbances, endocrine dysfunctions and physiological alterations in the body. F exposure also disrupts the synthesis of collagen and leads to the breakdown of collagen in bones (Susheela and Jha 1981). Its excessive intake may result in slow, progressive crippling condition known as fluorosis. This paper reports about the groundwater quality of certain regions of Gaya district of Bihar, with special emphasis on fluoride contamination and its impact on human health.