Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Health, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.
Sci Rep. 2024 Feb 29;14(1):5029. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-55615-3.
Metals are significant contributors to water pollution, posing serious threats to human health. This study aims to assess the carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic health risks associated with metals in Isfahan drinking water. Eighty water samples were randomly collected from the city's distribution network between January and March 2020-2021. Inductively coupled plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry was used to measure toxic metals, namely Pb, Cr, Cd, Ni, and As concentrations. Results revealed that the mean concentration of Ni (70.03 µg/L) exceeded the WHO reference value (70 µg/L), while the other metals were below the standard values. The average chronic daily intake order of toxic metals was Ni > Cr > Pb > As > Cd. Non-carcinogenic risk assessment through hazard quotient (HQ) and hazard index (HI) demonstrated that both THI for adults (HQ + HQ = 4.02E-03) and THI for children (HI + HI = 3.83E-03) were below the acceptable limit (less than 1). This indicated no non-carcinogenic risk to residents through water ingestion or dermal exposure. However, findings indicated that the ingestion route was the primary exposure pathway, with HQ values for ingestion exceeding HQ values for dermal adsorption. Carcinogenic risk assessment showed that the risk associated with As metal exceeded the acceptable limit (1 × 10). Therefore, implementing treatment improvement programs and appropriate control measures is essential to safeguard the health of Isfahan City residents.
金属是水污染的重要贡献者，对人类健康构成严重威胁。本研究旨在评估伊斯法罕饮用水中金属的致癌和非致癌健康风险。2020-2021 年 1 月至 3 月期间，从该市的分配网络中随机抽取了 80 个水样。电感耦合等离子体发射光谱法用于测量有毒金属，即 Pb、Cr、Cd、Ni 和 As 的浓度。结果表明，Ni 的平均浓度（70.03µg/L）超过了世卫组织的参考值（70µg/L），而其他金属低于标准值。有毒金属的平均慢性日摄入量顺序为 Ni>Cr>Pb>As>Cd。通过危害商（HQ）和危害指数（HI）进行非致癌风险评估表明，成人的总危害指数（THI）（HQ+HQ=4.02E-03）和儿童的总危害指数（THI）（HI+HI=3.83E-03）均低于可接受限值（小于 1）。这表明居民通过饮水或皮肤接触没有非致癌风险。然而，研究结果表明，摄入途径是主要的暴露途径，摄入 HQ 值高于皮肤吸附 HQ 值。致癌风险评估表明，与 As 金属相关的风险超过了可接受限值（1×10）。因此，实施改进处理方案和适当的控制措施对于保护伊斯法罕市居民的健康至关重要。
