Impact of Arsenic Contaminated Groundwater on Human Health in Affected Areas: A Case Study of Selected Villages, District Lahore
Author: Mariam Saif

The current study evaluates the health impact of arsenic contaminated groundwater in particular villages of district Lahore. The Ravi dissolves wastewater through nearby chemical industries. Ground water samples of 525 houses from the villages of Khud-Pur, Gopirai and Arazi have been tested to quantify the amount of arsenic by the Department of Environmental Science of Quaid-i-Azam University. Arsenic contamination level of water has exceeded beyond the standard WHO limit (50ug/l) in drinking water. The information about socioeconomic variables and diseases due to presence of arsenic in drinking water (Skin problem, skeletal bone, teeth discoloration) is directly collected from 225 families through well-structured questionnaire. Average family size is about 6 which generates 1335 observation for our analysis. Total sample is divided into three categories based on arsenic concentration in the drinking water i.e. high (≥300≤1000ppb), medium (<300≥50ppb) and low (<50ppb). In order to explore the determinants of frequency of disease, age, education, household size, water source and quality and arsenic concentration are considered as explanatory variables. In our sample each family member faces maximum one or zero disease, implying that dependent variable is in binary form. Therefore, Logit model is employed. Our empirical results revealed that, age, water source, water quality and arsenic concentration are significantly contributing to increase the probability of disease while household size has negative impact on the probability. The study also explored the determinant of health cost due to arsenic concentration. The results demonstrate that averting expenditures, no of visits to doctor, loss of working days and arsenic concentration have significant and positive effect on the health cost while water quality is found to have negatively impact on health cost. Government need to intervene by supplying clean drinking water to the residents of the study areas. Supervisor:- Dr. Abedullah

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Supervisor: Abedullah Anjum

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