GIS based spatial analysis of groundwater arsenic contamination and its effect on human health: A review

Pages: 1185-1191
Prasoon Kumar Singh, Mukesh Kumar Mahato and Ashwani Kumar Tiwari (Department of Environmental Science & Engineering Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad, Jharkhand)

The purpose of this review paper is to reveals the GIS based spatial analysis of groundwater arsenic contamination and their effects on human health. Since drinking water is one of the most important causes of exposure to arsenic in human beings. So it is necessary to analyze the status of the arsenic contamination in groundwater to avoid the various arsenic related health problems. With the help of Geographic Information System (GIS) one can delineate the exact distribution of arsenic contamination in groundwater. Now a day, arsenic pollution is of major concern due to its toxic nature that is why arsenic pollution in ground water has become a major quality problem and health hazard. Now the geographic information system (GIS) technology has become an extremely effective tool for analyzing, manipulating, managing and prioritizing natural resource management alternatives. Since natural resources management problems are spatial in nature. The GIS tools are used for evaluating the extent of the problem to facilitate the design and implementation of alternative management strategies. Since GIS is flexible in design so it can couple with the ability to integrate models with spatial data which gives resource managers and planners the tools to manage natural resources in a well ordered manner and to assess the implementation of regulatory policies before they are implemented.