Vol.:(0123456789) 1 3 Exposure and Health https://doi.org/10.1007/s12403-019-00308-w ORIGINAL PAPER Ingestion of Arsenic‑Contaminated Drinking Water Leads to Health Risk and Traces in Human Biomarkers (Hair, Nails, Blood, and Urine), Pakistan Ubaid ur Rehman 1,2  · Sardar Khan 1,2  · Said Muhammad 3,4 Received: 24 October 2018 / Revised: 10 February 2019 / Accepted: 12 April 2019 © Springer Nature B.V. 2019 Abstract Human exposure to arsenic (As) is a global public health concern that frequently occurs through both dietary and non-dietary pathways. This is the frst systematic feld study that investigated the drinking water (n = 190) for concentrations of total As (As T ) and its inorganic species such as arsenate As(V) and arsenite As(III) and organic species including monomethylarsonic acid (MMA) and dimethylarsenic acid (DMA) collected from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. The concentrations of As T surpassed (from 1.2- to 23-fold) the world health organization (WHO) drinking water guidelines in 28% samples collected from Dera Ismail Khan (D.I. Khan) and Lakki Marwat. Results revealed that among As species, As(III) showed the highest concentration (116 µg L −1 ) in drinking water samples. In addition, the results revealed that the chronic or non-cancer risk (HQ > 1) and cancer risk (1.0E-03 to 1.0E-06) values were above their respective safe limits. Further, As species concentra- tions were determined in consumer biomarkers (n = 60) such as blood (red blood cells and plasma), hair, nails, and urine. The highest As T (170 µg kg −1 ) accumulation was observed in hair samples collected from the resident of D.I. Khan District. The study revealed that high As-contaminated drinking water led to its accumulation in human body that could threaten the exposed population with hazardous chronic and cancer diseases. Keywords Arsenic speciation · Hazard quotient · Chronic risk · Cancer risk · Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Introduction Arsenic (As) is one of the most hazardous and ubiqui- tous metalloids occurring in natural water systems (Hare et al. 2019; Shukla et al. 2018; Zeng et al. 2018). As origi- nates in water from the anthropogenic and natural sources (Kippler et al. 2016; Kumarathilaka et al. 2018). The As-contaminated drinking water has been reported in more than 70 countries and threatens over 130 million human pop- ulations (Gunduz et al. 2017; Rasool et al. 2016). Exposure to As contamination in drinking water led to both chronic and acute health problems (Rasheed et al. 2017; Sun et al. 2014). Chronic health efects include abdominal pain, black foot disease, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, hypertension, nausea, severe diarrhea, vomiting, gastroenteritis and neuro- logical manifestations, reproductive disorder, fetal mortality, inhabit the mental growth of children, DNA damage and immune defciency, hyper- and hypo-pigmentation, kerato- sis, and respiratory problems, and increase male infertility risk. The carcinogenic efects of As include cancer (blad- der, kidney, liver, lungs, skin, and prostrate) (Brahman et al. 2016; Muhammad et al. 2010; Tabassum et al. 2018; Twad- dle et al. 2018). Arsenic has both organic and inorganic species in water, which difers not only in properties (biological, chemi- cal, and physical) but also in their toxicities (Devesa et al. 2008). Inorganic species such as arsenate As(V) and arsenite As(III) have higher toxicity than organic species, including * Sardar Khan sardar.khan2008@yahoo.com * Said Muhammad saidmuhammad1@gmail.com 1 Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Peshawar, Peshawar 25120, Pakistan 2 Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen, China 3 Department of Earth Sciences, COMSATS University, Abbottabad 22060, Pakistan 4 National Centre of Excellence in Geology, University of Peshawar, Peshawar 25120, Pakistan