PERTANIKA JOURNAL OF TROPICAL AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE

Beranang, one of the rural areas of Selangor which still depends on the groundwater as a secondary source of water for drinking and other purposes apart from treated water. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the health risk assessment of arsenic ingestion through groundwater consumption among Beranang residents in Selangor. Five houses with a functioning electrical pump-assisted tube well were chosen for the sampling, which occurred in February 2019. The groundwater samples were taken at each sampling point and stored at room temperature during transport to the laboratory within 24 hours. The groundwater samples were analyzed using the ICP-MS method. Both hazard quotient (HQ) and lifetime cancer risk (LCR) were calculated based on the formula provided by the US EPA (United States Environment Protection Agency). Arsenic concentration in the groundwater samples was higher than the WHO Drinking Guideline and Malaysia Raw Water Standard in all houses. The mean concentration was 46.90 μg/L with maximum and minimum concentrations of 54.40 μg/L and 23.70 μg/L, respectively. The concentration was approximately 2- to 6- fold in all houses with 100% prevalence of contaminated tube wells. The health risk degree of children was higher than that of adults on the whole, indicating that children suffer much higher risks than adults. The health risk degree through oral exposure was higher than dermal exposure. Despite the fact that the groundwater is not suitable for drinking, however, there is no health risk through dermal exposure.