Assessment of Heavy Metals Contamination in Groundwater from Ain Azel Area, Algeria

Multivariate statistical methods and risk assessment were jointly used to define the spatial variation of heavy metals in groundwater and to assess the adverse health effects on the population. Three significant factors were extracted by FA, explaining 75.69% of total variance. These factors were in turn described by the clusters C3, C2, and C1, respectively, resulting from the Q-mode HCA. Multivariate FA and CA revealed significant anthropogenic contributions and water-rock interaction effects of the metals in groundwater. The ANOVA results showed that the variation of each of the heavy metals between the three clusters is highly significant (p < 0.05). The mean values of HEI and C_deg indices indicated that the water samples were contaminated with a high degree of pollution by Cd and Pb. The hazard quotients (via ingestion) of Cd and Pb were found to be higher than the safe limits, posing a threat to the consumers. However, no risk related to the dermal contact was associated with the measured metal levels.