Modelling Spatial Variation of Arsenic Pollutant Using Empirical Bayesian Kriging in the Southern Part of Kerman Province

Background: Arsenic occurs naturally in the earth’s crust. Although arsenic is useful for various industrial, agricultural, medicinal and other purposes, it exerts a toxic effect in a variety of organisms, including humans. Arsenic could be entered into the environment through anthropogenic (produced directly by human activities) and natural (weathering and leaching from rocks and mineral layers of the earth and sedimentation) sources. This study evaluates the source of arsenic contaminations in the south of Kerman state by preparing the arsenic distribution map. Materials and Methods: In south of Kerman Province, with a surface of ca. 5000 km2study, results of assaying the 1804 stream sediment samples for arsenic contamination are used for spatially modeling. Empirical Bayesian kriging (EBK) modelling has been applied to assess the prediction of arsenic contamination for other non-sampling. Results: The level of arsenic concentration is more than the standard value (12 ppm) in north-western part of the area. This contamination can cause several diseases such as skin, Bladder and Lung cancers, diabetes and Cardiovascular in these areas. Therefore it’s necessary to evaluate the frequency of these diseases in the contaminated area. Conclusion: Comparison of contaminated area with the location of mineral deposits, mines, chemical industries and agricultural area shows that the source of this contamination could not be anthropogenic and natural source is more probable. Because the spatial modeling is prepared based on the stream sediment samples, it is necessary in the next step, to sample from soil, surface and underground water of contaminated area.&nbsp