An Evidence based Research on Presence of Carcinogens and Increasing Spurts of Cancer Cases in Vaigai River Basin, India

Abstract

Water is an inevitable part of living organisms. Water pollution is a serious environmental threat to people who consume, enter, and wash in contaminated water. The aim is to study the quantified levels of carcinogens in the environment, according to IARC Classification such as Arsenic, Benzene, Cadmium, Hexavalent Chromium, Cobalt, Nickel, Lead, Nitrite/Nitrate, and Phosphates and their correlation with increased spikes of cancer cases across districts that lie along Vaigai River Basin, Tamil Nadu, India. A Systematic literature review for cross-sectional studies that provided information about groundwater quality was carried out using six databases, "Researchgate, PubMed, Elsevier Science Direct, Wiley Online Library, Medline, and SpringerLink" from 2012 to 2022. The TNCRP report from 2021 was used as the basis for calculating the proportion of all cancer cases in the relevant district. Based on the Newcastle Ottawa Scale, a quality assessment was conducted. The results show the presence of high concentrations of carcinogens in the groundwater and sediments collected near the industries, commercial zones, and agricultural land. The significant association between exceeding the permissible limit of various heavy metal elements and compounds and the percentage of cancer cases at that particular site has been established in this study. Vaigai River is highly polluted such that the heavy metal concentration has already entered the human food chain. Oral findings commonly associated with chronic toxicity of carcinogenic heavy metals are listed which serves as an alarming signal to adapt to a healthy lifestyle and dietary modifications as required. &nbsp