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. 2022 Dec 1:247:114161.
doi: 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2022.114161. Epub 2022 Nov 4.

Analysis of the geological control on the spatial distribution of potentially toxic concentrations of As and F- in groundwater on a Pan-European scale

Elena Giménez-Forcada  1 , Juan Antonio Luque-Espinar  2 , María Teresa López-Bahut  3 , Juan Grima-Olmedo  4 , Jorge Jiménez-Sánchez  5 , Carlos Ontiveros-Beltranena  6 , José Ángel Díaz-Muñoz  7 , Daniel Elster  8 , Ferid Skopljak  9 , Denitza Voutchkova  10 , Birgitte Hansen  11 , Klaus Hinsby  12 , Jörg Schullehner  13 , Eline Malcuit  14 , Laurence Gourcy  15 , Teodóra Szőcs  16 , Nóra Gál  17 , Daði Þorbjörnsson  18 , Katie Tedd  19 , Dāvis Borozdins  20 , Henry Debattista  21 , Agnieszka Felter  22 , Jolanta Cabalska  23 , Anna Mikołajczyk  24 , Ana Pereira  25 , Jose Sampaio  26 , Diana Perşa  27 , Tanja Petrović Pantic  28 , Nina Rman  29 , Georgina Arnó  30 , Ignasi Herms  31 , Lars Rosenqvist  32
Affiliations

Analysis of the geological control on the spatial distribution of potentially toxic concentrations of As and F- in groundwater on a Pan-European scale

Elena Giménez-Forcada et al. Ecotoxicol Environ Saf. .

Abstract

The distribution of the high concentrations of arsenic (As) and fluoride (F-) in groundwater on a Pan-European scale could be explained by the geological European context (lithology and structural faults). To test this hypothesis, seventeen countries and eighteen geological survey organizations (GSOs) have participated in the dataset. The methodology has used the HydroGeoToxicity (HGT) and the Baseline Concentration (BLC) index. The results prove that most of the waters considered in this study are in good conditions for drinking water consumption, in terms of As and/or F- content. A low proportion of the analysed samples present HGT≥ 1 levels (4% and 7% for As and F-, respectively). The spatial distribution of the highest As and/or F- concentrations (via BLC values) has been analysed using GIS tools. The highest values are identified associated with fissured hard rock outcrops (crystalline rocks) or Cenozoic sedimentary zones, where basement fractures seems to have an obvious control on the distribution of maximum concentrations of these elements in groundwaters.

Keywords: Arsenic; Fluoride; Geo-Hydrochemistry; Groundwater; Spatial Analysis; Trace elements.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

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