Health risk study of cadmium, chromium, lead and arsenic in reservoir water of Changzhou, China

Abstract

Accurately assessing the health risks of human exposure to heavy metals via water is of great importance for performing targeted health risk prevention measures. To better understand the concentration characteristics and potential harm to human health of cadmium, chromium, lead and arsenic in the main drinking water-type reservoirs of Changzhou city, we collected samples from the Haidi Reservoir, Dongjin Reservoir, Xinfushan Reservoir, Maodong Reservoir and Xiangyang Reservoir of Changzhou in the summer of 2019. The results showed that the daily average comprehensive exposure level of metals was much lower than the provisional tolerated daily intake (PTDI), i.e., Cd: 1 µg kg⁻¹ d⁻¹; Cr: 3 µg kg⁻¹ d⁻¹; Pb: 3.57 µg kg⁻¹ d⁻¹; and As: 2.14 µg kg⁻¹ d⁻¹. The comprehensive non-carcinogenic risk levels of four metals under water-drinking exposure and water-skin exposure routes ranged from 4.68E − 3 to 1.69E − 1, and the carcinogenic risk ranged from 2.09E − 5 to 7.30E − 5, which were all at acceptable risk levels. Although lead and chromium were present at acceptable health risk levels, they still represented the main pollutants of potential health risk in the local water environment from a non-carcinogenic or carcinogenic perspective, and they should be listed as the primary targets for water environmental risk management.

Keywords:

• Health risk assessment
• water-drinking exposure
• water-skin exposure
• reservoir
• exposure factors
• heavy metals
• Changzhou
• Monte Carlo simulation
• carcinogenic risk
• non-carcinogenic risk

Acknowledgments

The authors would also like to acknowledge and thank the Chinese Academy of Environmental Sciences and the Environmental Protection Department of Changzhou city for facilitating the collection of water samples in this study and all the team members who participated in the questionnaire survey.

Availability of data and material

Reservoir sample concentration data were derived from the research team members who collected samples from 5 reservoirs in Changzhou each month from June 2019 to August 2019, and the relevant exposure parameters in this study were obtained based on a field behavior questionnaire survey. Other parameters referred to the IARC classification and were obtained from relevant public reports and the USEPA website.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest regarding the publication of this article.

Ethics approval

The study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. And the questionnaire in this study has been reviewed and approved by the Ethics Committee of the University of Science and Technology Beijing (review number: 2022-7-105).

Additional information

Funding

This research was sponsored by the National Water Pollution Control and Management Technology Major Project of China (2017ZX07301005-003).