Toxicological characteristics of drinking water in two large-scale municipal water supply systems of a metropolitan city in Central China

• Published in: Environmental science and pollution research international Vol. 30; no. 23; pp. 64058 - 64066
• Main Authors: Wang, Huai-Ji, Peng, Chen-Wei, Han, Xue, Wang, Yan, Zhang, Jie, Liu, Jun-Ling, Zhou, Meng-Xuan, Tang, Fei, Liu, Ai-Lin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.05.2023; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Animals; Aquatic Pollution; Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution; Bioassays; Caenorhabditis elegans; Chemical analysis; China; Dissolved organic carbon; DNA damage; Drinking water; Drinking Water - analysis; Earth and Environmental Science; Ecotoxicology; Environment; Environmental Chemistry; Environmental Health; Environmental Monitoring; Environmental science; Genotoxicity; Hydrology; Indicators; Municipal water supplies; Offspring; Pollution monitoring; Research Article; Spatial variations; Toxicity; Toxicology; Waste Water Technology; Water analysis; Water conveyance; Water Management; Water monitoring; Water Pollutants, Chemical - analysis; Water Pollution Control; Water quality; Water quality management; Water sampling; Water Supply; Water supply systems; China; Drinking water; Bioassay; Water quality monitoring; Reproductive toxicity; Genotoxicity; Distribution network; Organic extracts; Caenorhabditis elegans
• ISSN: 1614-7499; 0944-1344; 1614-7499
• DOI: 10.1007/s11356-023-26882-w

Drinking water safety is threatened by numerous toxic organic pollutants difficult to chemically monitor. This study aimed to determine the toxicological profiles of organic extracts (OEs) of water samples from source to tap in two drinking water supply systems in a metropolitan city, Central China, during different hydrological periods. Mortality, DNA damage, growth, and development of Caenorhabditis elegans were evaluated following exposure to OEs. The median lethal doses of OEs of drinking water samples ( n  = 48) ranged from 266 REF (relative enrichment factor) to > 1563 REF. When tested at a dose of 100 REF, 56.25% (27/48) of OEs induced genotoxicity, 4.17% (2/48) inhibited the growth, and 45.83% (22/48) decreased the offspring number in C. elegans . No clear temporal-spatial variation patterns of the OEs toxicity indicators were observed. The correlations among the toxicity indicators were generally poor. The observed toxicities were not closely related to the level of dissolved organic carbon in drinking water. These findings support using multiple endpoint bioassays, such as C. elegans -based approaches, as complementary tools to conventional chemical analysis for drinking water quality monitoring.