Data for: Spatial variability of arsenic in Indo-Gangetic basin of Varanasi and its cancer risk assessment

Spatial variability of arsenic in Indo-Gangetic basin of Varanasi and its cancer risk assessment Various water quality parameters were determined by the standard procedures as described by APHA (2005) and Maiti (2001). Analysis of metal ions were performed on Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS) and arsenic content of water was determined by VGA-AAS (Vapour Generation Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (Agilent Technologies VGA 77 AA spectrophotometer, Australia, Serial no. MY16020008) according to the method defined by Van Herreweghe et al. (2003). Keywords Arsenic, groundwater quality, Spatial variability, risk assessment Water samples were collected in one liter plastic bottle after starting of the pump about half an hour and were preserved by acidification with 5 mL of nitric acid (14 M) in each 1 liter of water sample to bring the pH <2, and placed in a refrigerator keeping the temperature below 4°C. Before analysis all samples were filtered through Whatman 42 filter paper. Reference Apha, A., 2005. Standard methods for the examination of water and wastewater, 21, 258-259. Maite, S.K., 2001. Handbook of Methods in Environmental Studies Vol. I – Water and wastewater analysis: ABD Publishers, Jaipur, India. Norušis, M.J., 2006. SPSS 14.0 guide to data analysis. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Van Herreweghe, S., Swennen, R., Vandecasteele, C., Cappuyns, V., 2003. Solid phase speciation of arsenic by sequential extraction in standard reference materials and industrially contaminated soil samples. Environ. Pollut. 122, 323-342.