Fluorinated Groundwater in Madhya Pradesh A Multi-Scale Hydrogeochemical and Health-Risk Assessment With Engineering-Oriented Mitigation Strategies

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6239-678-4_32How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Fluoride; Groundwater quality; Madhya Pradesh; Hydrogeochemistry; Exposure assessment; Drinking water risk

Abstract

Epidemic of fluoride pollution in ground water, poses a serious health as well as the hydrogeochemical problem in Madhya Pradesh.This study integrates government monitoring, district hydrochemical surveys and published articles in peer reviewed journals (2021–2025) to conduct a multi scale analysis of fluoride geo distribution, geochemical controlling factors, exposure risk and practicable mitigation options. Spatial mapping of integrated datasets also reveals the presence of fairly consistent fluoride hotspots in hard rock terrain particularly Jhabua, Seoni, Dhar and adjoining districts where alkaline pH, higher bicarbonate: calcium ratio coupled with longer aquifer residence time favour processions of fluoride. Probabilistic exposure estimates with representative concentration ranges show that children in impacted habitations commonly exceed non-carcinogenic risk thresholds, block level sample sets have very high exceedance fractions (often >60 to 70%).

Simultaneously, the new industrial pollutants (PFAS,s Plasticizers) and high TDS in some urban industrial areas make treatment options selection and residuals disposal more challenging. Assessing options for defluoridation according to available engineering units, the integrated implementation of a decentralized community defluoridation (activated alumina / locally treated mineral media), targeted reverse-osmosis with low-tech brine handling elements and catchment recharge measures provides the most viable pathway for large scale risk reduction in MP’s rural landscape. The paper proposes a road map to prioritize (1) targeted hotspot testing, (2) community pilots with effective O&M and brine disposal practices, (3) district level dashboards for monitoring, and (4) health surveillance integrated into water supply planning. This review provides useful insights to develop appropriate engineering interventions and policy initiatives for sustainable groundwater safety in the Madhya Pradesh state.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Vaishali Rao
AU  - Chhaya Chouhan
AU  - Gourav Surajwani
AU  - Krish Parmar
AU  - Juned Shaikh
AU  - Harsh Mahajan
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/05/28
TI  - Fluorinated Groundwater in Madhya Pradesh A Multi-Scale Hydrogeochemical and Health-Risk Assessment With Engineering-Oriented Mitigation Strategies
BT  - Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Recent Advancement and Modernization in Sustainable Intelligent Technologies & Applications (RAMSITA-2026)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 407
EP  - 418
SN  - 1951-6851
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6239-678-4_32
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6239-678-4_32
ID  - Rao2026
ER  -