Hydrogeochemical behavior and health risk assessment of fluoride in dependencies of Ahar Town, East Azarbayjan

Water quality was reported a public health issue as cases of fluorosis among Ahar town residents in east Azarbayjan. In this paper, some geochemical parameters were investigated that control fluoride concentration in the water resources with risk assessment for the residents. For this purpose, 21 water samples from water resources in north and eastern north parts of Ahar town villages were sampled and some parameters and ions of the water samples were measured in lab. The highest concentrations of this ion were seen in the central region with average of 2.8 mg/L. With considering F – concentration of 1 mg/L as the best concentration, the water samples were classified in two groups including the high and low F – concentrations. Piper diagram showed the most water samples had high Na + and HCO3 – concentrations. The lithological investigations showed source of high concentrations F – is flouroapatite igneous rocks containing biotite, hornblende, and apatite minerals. Relationships between F – concentration and pH, total soluble solids, electrical conductivity, and basic ions of the water samples were investigated in this study. Results of the health risk of F – showed for higher than 1 mg/L concentration regions, for all ages daily exposure dose was higher than health limit daily exposure dose. In less than 1 mg/L concentration regions, only for infants daily exposure dose was higher than its health limit.