Geographic information system–based health risk assessment of rural drinking water in Central China: a case study of You County, Hunan

• Published in: Environmental monitoring and assessment Vol. 193; no. 2; p. 89
• Main Authors: Wang, Danqi, Chen, Xu, Zhang, Jialiang, Zhong, Yanqin, Liu, Ran, Ding, Ping
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer International Publishing 01.02.2021; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Aluminium; Aluminum; Ammonia; Arsenic; Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution; Cadmium; Carcinogens; China; Chlorine; Chlorine dioxide; Chlorite; Chloroform; Chromium; Copper; Cyanides; Distribution; Drinking water; Drinking Water - analysis; Earth and Environmental Science; Ecology; Ecotoxicology; Environment; Environmental Management; Environmental Monitoring; Environmental protection; Environmental science; Fluorides; Geographic Information Systems; Geographical information systems; Hazard assessment; Health hazards; Health risk assessment; Health risks; Humans; Information systems; Manganese; Mercury; Monitoring/Environmental Analysis; Phenols; Pollutants; Risk analysis; Risk Assessment; Risk factors; Risk levels; Risk management; Selenium; Spatial distribution; Water Pollutants, Chemical - analysis; Water sampling; Water Supply; Water supply systems; Zinc; China; United States > US; Rural area; Centralized water supply system; Health risk assessment; Geographic information system; China; Drinking water quality
• ISSN: 0167-6369; 1573-2959
• DOI: 10.1007/s10661-021-08870-0

This study assessed potential human health hazards posed by drinking water from centralized water supply systems in rural You County, along with its spatial distribution. While most previous studies have focused on source water or urban drinking water, this study evaluated the health risk posed by 20 common pollutants (arsenic, cadmium, chromium(VI), lead, mercury, selenium, cyanide, fluoride, nitrate nitrogen, trichloromethane, tetrachloromethane, chlorite, aluminum, iron, manganese, copper, zinc, ammonia nitrogen, chlorine dioxide, and volatile phenols) in rural terminal tap water. The assessment adopted the model recommended by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and was combined with the geographic information system (GIS) analysis to explore the spatial distribution of risk factors. Water samples were collected from 13 townships in You County across four quarters of 2019. The results indicated that the average carcinogenic risk of the rural drinking water was 2.45 × 10 −5 , ranging from 1.80 × 10 −5 to 3.89 × 10 −5 , which never exceeded the maximum acceptable range recommended by the US EPA (1.0 × 10 −4  ~ 1.0 × 10 −6 ). The average hazard index (HI), which reflects noncarcinogenic risk levels, was 0.75 and ranged from 0.34 to 1.74. Throughout the year, some townships presented HI > 1, indicating a non-carcinogenic risk. The GIS analysis indicated that noncarcinogenic risks were mainly distributed in the north, followed by the east and west. This is generally consistent with the spatial distribution of chlorite concentrations, which contribute most strongly to noncarcinogenic risk levels. The northern You County should therefore be prioritized for health risk control, followed by the eastern and western regions. Chlorite is the priority pollutant for control.