Cadmium in Groundwater of Amarillo - Term Paper Example

Cadmium in Groundwater, Amarillo Abstract The city of Amarillo acquires its water from two sources; surface and groundwater. The surface water is provided by Lake Meredith, while the Ogallala Aquifer provides the groundwater source. The city’s water is therefore provided by a combination of these two water sources with the lake providing about 6% of the total water demand, and the rest is catered for by the groundwater sources. As is the case with all water sources used by man, the Amarillo water sources are prone to contamination by both natural and man-made agents. With the location of the lake and wells, the Amarillo water is most susceptible to contamination by agricultural practices, septic systems, activities related to oil fields, and unused private wells. This study text is developed from a research conducted with regards to the water quality at Amarillo after recent occurrences of health complications believed to originate from the drinking water led to the possibility that the water might be contaminated by cadmium. The two potential (possible) sources of contamination are a new metal refinery and an old landfill which are both in the area, and the people of Amarillo are unsure which of them is responsible for the contamination. The study will highlight the potential problems that could emerge from the exposure to Cadmium, and analyse the collected data to support whether or not the contamination exists, and which between the landfill and metal refinery is the cause of the Cadmium contamination. Introduction The idea of the research was brought up after several cases of health disorders were reported in Amarillo and the symptom hinted contamination of the drinking water by Cadmium and/or Chloride. Cadmium, atomic number 48 chemical element is a bluish-white metal with similar chemical attributes to Mercury and Zinc. Cadmium is mostly found in the earth's crust and is rare as compared to Zinc. Its availability in the human environment is rare, but human interference is what leads to its availability; it occurs a byproduct of refining some metals such as Zinc, smelting, and mining. Again, it is generated during the recycling of steel and iron scraps, and will occur in rocks mined to process phosphate fertilizers. Finally, some minimal traces of Cadmium occur in coal dust.These harbours of Cadmium therefore hint that there are two potential contamination sources of the Amarillo groundwater; the old landfill to the south, and an emerging metal refinery to the north of the city. There are two means through which Cadmium can end up contaminating water; naturally or by artificial (man-made). Naturally, erosions of soils and the weathering of rocks deposit some Cadmium into aquatic systems but this is usually of low insignificant concentrations. After aquatic systems such as rivers get contaminated in excess, they can contaminate the surrounding environment (soil) when flooding occurs or artificial activities such as irrigation occur. However, artificial contamination resulting from human activities is what causes the excess contamination. Metal industries are notorious for emitting wastewater with the metal into aquatic systems, and these not only spread to agricultural lands, seep into soil and rocks, but also end up in municipal water treatment systems. As such, groundwater can be contaminated through seepage of the Cadmium-containing water into the soil, while surface water can be fed with contaminated water spanning up to a 50 kilometre radius from the source of the Cadmium contamination. This therefore creates a potential link between the two suspected contamination sources since their location is within the 50 kilometre radius around Amarillo. Cadmium element is a natural occurrence in ground and surface water since the metal is found in underground. As such, the EPA acknowledges that its occurrence is inevitable in water, but then, it has to be maintained within the acceptable, harmless levels. The level to which contamination can be termed as the excess is referred to as the Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL), and when this limit is achieved, potential health disorders are likely to emerge.It is for this reason that in 1974, the Safe Drinking Water Act was enacted by Congress to see to it that water supplied to the people was safe from this and other waterborne health disorders. In this regulation, the Water Act set the Maximum Contaminant Level Goals (MCLG) to limit the contamination levels thus assure consumers of their safety. The set MCLG for Cadmium was set at 0.005 micrograms per litre. This figure was agreed on upon sufficient scientific research which explained that this exposure was insufficient to cause any adverse health effects. The reason why the EPA set the 0.005 mg/l is because any concentration above that would harm humans. The danger with continued Cadmium consumption is that it accumulates over time, that is, it is retained in the body without showing any signs but upon getting to a sufficient level, causes health problems. Upon getting to the said level, health effects emerge and these include one, toxicity to the kidneys, and particularly the proximal tubular cells. Two, it can result in demineralisation which can happen either indirectly through renal dysfunction or directly through damage to the bones. Upon denser exposure from either water or air contamination, lung function impairment and cancers are likely to affect one. Upon ingestion, Cadmium is absorbed into the body where it gets to the liver, which in turn transports it to the kidneys and accumulation initiates. Since the kidneys are responsible for the filtration of harmful agents in the blood, they become accumulated points for the Cadmium which in its stay at the kidney activates the production of melatonin (Godt, Scheidig, Siestrup, Esche, Brandenburg, race, & Groneberg, n.p.). There is, however an uncertainty emerging from an observable trend, that is, most people in their end-life stages manifests these symptoms, as such; it is not clear whether Cadmium is a secondary or primary causal factor. All in all, there is the need to dig deeper into the issue and where possible, retain or minimize further the rate of contamination. After all, Cadmium offers no significant value to the body. Research Hypothesis The research was conducted by collection and sampling of ground and surface water, which was tested for its Cadmium and Chloride concentration levels. The water was collected at depths of 20 metres at the two sites identified as potential contaminants, that is the new metal refinery and the landfill which has been operational since 1992. The data were recorded with regards to latitudes and longitudes as this would help identify the concentrations of Cadmium with respect to the sites’ locations, that is, the landfill to the south, and the refinery to the North.Inshort, GPS was used in locating the locations where samples would be taken from. The table below shows the resulting data from the GPS site evaluations. W (Longitude) DD N (Latitude) DD Cd ppb Surface Cd ppb 20M Cl ppm Surface Cl ppm 20M 102.02 102.02 102.02 102.02 102.02 102.03 102.03 102.02 102.02 102.03 102.04 102.03 102.02 102.02 102.03 102.03 102.02 102.02 102.02 35.32 35.33 35.32 35.32 35.33 38.33 35.33 35.34 35.34 35.35 35.32 35.34 35.34 35.34 35.32 35.32 35.33 35.33 35.33 1.0 0.5 0.2 0.1 0.1 9.0 7.0 1.0 1.0 6.0 12.0 8.0 3.0 0.3 6.0 3.0 1.0 2.0 0.1 0.1 3.0 0.1 0.4 2.0 4.0 6.0 9.0 12.0 14.0 0.3 7.0 11.0 11.0 0.1 8.0 10.0 1.0 5.0 12.0 15.0 17.0 19.0 12.0 23.0 23.0 12.0 12.0 14.0 24.0 16.0 12.0 11.0 15.0 12.0 13.0 13.0 12.0 23.0 24.0 23.0 24.0 23.0 23.0 24.0 25.0 23.0 26.0 23.0 24.0 23.0 23.0 24.0 24.0 23.0 23.0 26.0 Table1: Cd and Cl concentration levels at Amarillo (metal refinery and landfill) Results The table above represents the findings of the research conducted on samples of water got from the two sites and their Chloride and Cadmium concentration levels checked. The findings indicate that the concentration levels vary in two ways; first between the two sites, and two, proximity from the centre of the two sites. From the GPS placements as the table shows, the concentration of Cadmium was highest towards the northern locations with the highest Cd level being 12ppb in the sample of surface water. This is the same case with the concentration of Cl which was 24ppb in the surface water. When the contamination was high (for both elements) in the surface water, the concentration was in most cases low in the surface water sample. On its part, the southern end’s GPS placement indicated that the concentration was only high in the underground (20M) water sample, and very low in the surface water sample. A further comparisonindicates that the north had a lesser parity in the concentration for both underground and surface water as compared to the south’s two water samples. This is to say that in the north, contamination was high in the surface water and of significant concentration in the underground water as well. In the south, concentration was higher in the surface water, and of insignificant concentration in the surface water. From the planning of Amarillo, the translation is that to the north, we have the new metal refinery, and the old landfill to the southern end of the city. Discussion From the revelations above, there appear some credible patterns and derivations. First of all, the data recorded proved that the concentrations (of Cl and Cd) were higher in the water samples obtained from the surface water around the new metal refinery. Again, there was a slight but significant concentration in the ground water whose concentration diluted with an increase in the distance from the refinery. The potential explanation for the first observation is that the refinery is responsible for the contamination of the surface water sources around it. This in turn matches the prior assumption that metal refineries and other industries lead to the production of the metal (Cadmium) and upon incorrect disposal of their wastewater, it flows into aquatic systems; contaminating them. For instance, if there is a tributary to lake Meredith passing near the metal refinery, dumping of contaminated wastewater into it will eventually lead to the lake’s contamination. In short, the contamination of the ground water source is caused by the unsafe dumping of contaminated water from the metal refinery bearing in mind that metal refineries are notorious for the emergence of the element.The second observation is that the ground water sample showed some minimal traces of both elements. First of all, these concentrations might be the naturally-occurring one, and which originates from rock weathering or mineral erosion. Two, it is possible that the same incorrect methods of (contaminated) wastewater disposal resulted in the seepage of the water into the ground, giving the underground water its concentration. This is supported by the pattern that these concentrations decrease with an increase in distance from the refinery. The other observations were recorded in the water samples obtained from the south of Amarillo city, and that is where the 1992 landfill is situated. The observations were that contamination levels of surface water were relatively low and again, the ground water had concentration higher than the groundwater, but both concentrations were not as high as for the north’s samples. There exist several explanations for this; first of all, the surface water sample showed the lowest concentration levels. The potential reasoning behind this is that owing to the nature of the landfill into which waste is dumped into and covered with soil in a sunken location, contaminated water cannot run off and join aquatic systems. This is catered for by the shape of the landfill, which holds any water and keeps it from running. Again, the soil poured onto the waste keeps the water from accumulating. Concisely, the contamination of surface water sources was very unlikely and when it happened, it had to be minimal as the table shows. However, there is an observation that the groundwater sample had a higher concentration than the surface water. The nature of the landfill explains this occurrence again. When the waste is dumped into the landfill, the water in it (which has some Cadmium in it) seeps into the soil and comes into contact with the underground water, which then finds its way into groundwater sources such as the Ogallala Aquifer in Amarillo. The data, however indicate that the concentration differs slightly from the natural one, and as such, the contamination from the landfill is minimal. Similar to the north, this concentration decreased with the increase in distance from the landfill. All in all, the conclusion is that the landfill was less of a contaminator as compared to the metal refinery. Conclusions Back to the Amarillo issue, the puzzle has some headway now; that it is very likely that the new metal refinery is the contaminator, and not the old landfill as earlier speculated. Both of them are contributing some Cadmium the water sources, but it has to be one producing the most concentrations. The answer lies in the data and explanations offered by the research. There is apotential dilemma in that since most of the municipal water is sourced from the ground sources, the contamination has to be originating from the landfill. This is not what the data reveals. Rather, the data suggests that the landfill might be a pollutant, yes, but the contamination emerging from it is minimal unlike what the refinery is producing. While this is a sensible notion, the scientific evidence proves more sensible in that whereas only 6% of Lake Meredith’s water is treated and used for drinking, higher concentration levels of the Cadmium element are sufficient to remain harmful even in the extensive dilution when the mixing occurs. As such, the corrective measures should be oriented towards the source of surface water contamination, and surface water sources. The recommendations are that since the (recent) reported health disorders are coinciding with a (new) metal refinery in the city, then it is most likely that the coincidence is more than what it seems. This is to mean that before the refinery was set up, no such issues were reported, butafter its establishment, there are Cadmium-related health disorders emerging, and water contamination is perceived of as a likely causal factor. It is high time the EPA and all other concerned bodies paid more attention to this issue by conducting stricter research on the origin of the Cadmium contamination and upon finding out where the fault lies, resolve it immediately. Clean, safe, and reliable drinking water is a right for every United States citizen and even though some of these health problems might not show up immediately, it is important that the problem be solved since health studies state that it is the Cadmium accumulation which causes the problem. In addition, if the refinery cannot install proper wastewater disposal mechanisms, then it can be forcefully moved from the site where it is located, or better still, the municipal water treatment should find ways of reducing the concentration to safe levels. Taking these precautionary measures will be wiser than trying to compensate and cure people in the future when the disaster strikes and affects people in their larger numbers. Works Cited Godt, Johannes, Scheidig, Franziska, Siestrup, Christian, Esche, Vera, Brandenburg, Paul, Recih, Andrea, & Groneberg, David. “The toxicity of cadmium and resulting hazards for human health”. NCBI, 2006. 1-22. Web. 29 April, 2014. Read More