Pollution assessment of arsenic in groundwater: geochemistry and analytical aspects

268 Pages·2013·6.06 MB·English

by  Santanu Majunder

POLLUTION ASSESSMENT OF ARSENIC IN
GROUNDWATER: GEOCHEMISTRY AND
ANALYTICAL ASPECTS

Santanu Majumder

Dipòsit legal: Gi. 1601-2013
http://hdl.handle.net/10803/125308

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Doctoral Thesis
Pollution Assessment of Arsenic in Groundwater: Geochemistry
and Analytical Aspects

Santanu Majumder
2013

Doctoral programme in Experimental Sciences and Sustainability

Supervised by:
Dra. Manuela Hidalgo
Prof. Debashis Chatterjee
Dra. Gabriela Roman-Ross

Presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a doctoral degree from the
University of Girona

Dra. Manuela Hidalgo Muñoz of University of Girona, Prof. Debashis Chatterjee
of Univeristy of Kalyani and Dra. Gabriela Roman-Ross of AMPHOS 21,

WE CERTIFY:

That the thesis entitled as “Pollution Assessment of Arsenic in Groundwater:
Geochemistry and Analytical Aspects” has been completed under our supervision
to obatain a Doctoral degree and meets the requirements to qualify for an
International Doctorate.

For all intents and purposes, we hereby sign this document.

Prof. Manuela Hidalgo Prof. Debashis Chatterjee Dr. Gabriela Roman-Ross

Girona 1st October, 2013

The Development of this thesis has been partially funded by two research projects:

• Financial support under the DFG and BMZ Programme for Research Co-
operation with Developing Countries [Programms zur Zusammenarbeit mit
Wissenschaftlern in Entwicklungsländern (BMZ-DFG-Programme)] (Project
Stu 169/37-1).
• Spanish National Research Programme (Project ref. CGL2010-22168-C03-03).

Santanu Majumder gratefully acknowledges a PhD research scholarship and
mobility grant by the European Commission through the Erasmus Mundus External
Cooperation Window (EMECW-Action II) programme, EURINDIA. Part of the field
sampling and experimental work of this thesis was carried out in:
• A part of the analytical works has been carried out at the Institute of
Mineralogy and Geochemistry, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany.
• Some of the analytical works (field-cum-laboratory analysis) have also been
carried out at the University of Kalyani, Kalyani, Nadia, West Bengal, India.
The support of DST (Govt. of India, New Delhi) under FIST programme to
the Department of Chemistry, University of Kalyani is also duly
acknowledged.

List of papers resulting from this research

Majumder S., Nath B., Sarkar S., Islam S.M., Bundschuh J., Chatterjee D., Hidalgo M.
(2012) Application of natural citric acid sources and their role on removal of arsenic
from drinking water: a green chemistry approach. Journal of Hazardous Materials.
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2012.09.007
Impact Factor: 3.925.
Majumder S., Sarkar S., Chatterjee D., Roman-Ross G., Hidalgo M. (2013) Role of
colloidal particles as scavengers of groundwater arsenic: a case study from rural
Bengal. Procedia Earth and Planetary Science. 7, 546-549.

Majumder S., Nath B., Sarkar S., Roman-Ross G., Hidalgo M., Chatterjee D. (2014)
Size-fractionation of groundwater arsenic in alluvial aquifers of West Bengal, India:
The role of organic and inorganic colloids. Science of the Total Environmental 468-469,
804-812. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2013.08.087
Impact Factor: 3.258.
Majumder S., Nath B., Datta S., Sarkar S., Neidhardt H., Berner Z., Hidalgo M.,
Chatterjee D. Monsoonal influence on the variation of stable isotope signatures and
associated arsenic release processes in groundwater. To be submitted.

Majumder S., Margui E., Roman-Ross G., Chatterjee D., Hidago M. Hollow Fiber
Liquid Phase Microextraction (HF-LPME) combined with Total Reflection X-ray
Spectrometry (TXRF) for the determination of trace level inorganic arsenic species in
waters. To be submitted.

Acknowledgement
It is an excellent opportunity for me to express my cordial sense of gratitude to my
thesis supervisors Prof. Manuela Hidalgo, Department of Chemistry
(Environmental Analytical Chemistry section), University of Girona, Spain, Prof.
Debashis Chatterjee, Department of Chemistry, University of Kalyani and Dr.
Gabriela Roman-Ross, AMPHOS, Barcelona, Spain for their affectionate supervision,
sustained interest, valuable guidance and continuous encouragement to conduct the
present investigation and preparation of this thesis report.
I am also grateful to Dr. Eva Margui and Dr. Monica Iglesias, University of Girona,
Spain for their active support during my hard times. I am extremely grateful to all
the members of the Analytical Chemistry group – Victoria, Enriqueta, Claudia,
Juanma for all the valuable interactions I had with them.
I must thank Dr. Josep Mas, University of Girona for his help with the water
samples he provided for my experiments.
I would like to convey my gratitude to Dr. Bibhash Nath, Department of
Geosciences, University of Sydney, Australia and Dr. Saugata Datta, Department of
Geology, Kansas State University, USA for helping me to overcome difficult phases.
I further thank Dr. Zsolt Berner and Dr. Harald Neidhradt, KIT, Karlsruhe,
Germany for their cordial support. I am grateful to all my lab-mates, research
scholars, technical assistants in University of Kalyani, India, especially Arnab Da for
their co-operation. I am extremely grateful to Late Ms. Sushmita Chatterjee for her
constant support and encouragement.
I must give thanks to all my lab mates, namely Subhamoy, Anna, Carme, Dolors,
Aida, Monica, Ruben for their co-operation and help. All of you were always there
to help me in whichever way I needed. I will cherish your friendship and support
all my life. I would also like to thank my flat mate Sandip Buddhe for relaxing me
with the funny words during the stressful moments.
I am extremely thankful to all the villagers in Chakdaha block, West Bengal, India,
the people of Sahispur and Chakudanga, especially Mr. Atul Mandal, for all the love
and hospitality that I received during the field trips. I am also thankful to Mr. Prabir
Kumar Das (Bapi da) and Bablu da for their co-operation and support during the
field campaign.