Mandi: Researchers from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Mandi and Jammu have detected cancer-causing pollutants in the groundwater of Himachal Pradesh's Baddi-Barotiwala (BB) industrial area.

According to the researchers, industrialisation has contaminated groundwater with toxic metals, exceeding permissible limits in the BB industrial area. The reliance on untreated groundwater has caused numerous health problems, including significant reports of cancer and renal disease between 2013 and 2018, they noted in the paper published in the journal Science of the Total Environment.

The team investigated the chemical hydrology of groundwater in the region, identifying dominant ion sources and measuring the geospatial variation of toxic metal concentrations.

The researchers identified key metals of concern and prepared geospatial maps showing metal contamination and health risks across village boundaries.