Faculty of Technology and Metallurgy, University of Belgrade, Karnegijeva 4, 11120, Belgrade, Serbia.
Innovation Center of Faculty of Technology and Metallurgy, Karnegijeva 4, 11120, Belgrade, Serbia.
Environ Geochem Health. 2024 Oct 9;46(11):468. doi: 10.1007/s10653-024-02257-z.
This study incorporated hydrogeochemical facies, the entropy-weighted water quality index (EWQI), multivariate statistics, and probabilistic human exposure assessment to investigate hydrogeochemistry, analyze groundwater quality, and estimate potential risks to human health in a lithium-rich ore area (Jadar River basin, Serbia). The findings designated the Ca·Mg-HCO hydrogeochemical type as the predominant type of groundwater, in which rock weathering and evaporation control the major ion chemistry. Due to the weathering of a lithium-rich mineral (Jadarite), the lithium content in the groundwater was very high, up to 567 mg/L, with a median value of 4.3 mg/L. According to the calculated EWQI, 86.4% of the samples belong to poor and extremely poor quality water for drinking. Geospatial mapping of the studied area uncovered several hotspots of severely contaminated groundwater. The risk assessment results show that groundwater contaminants pose significant non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic human health risks to residents, with most samples exceeding the allowable limits for the hazard index (HI) and the incremental lifetime cancer risk (ILCR). The ingestion exposure pathway has been identified as a critical contaminant route. Monte Carlo risk simulation made apparent that the likelihood of developing cancerous diseases is very high for both age groups. Sensitivity analysis highlighted ingestion rate and human body weight as the two most influential exposure factors on the variability of health risk assessment outcomes.
本研究采用水地球化学相、熵权水质指数（EWQI）、多元统计和概率人类暴露评估方法，研究了锂富矿区（塞尔维亚贾达尔河流域）的水地球化学、地下水质量分析和对人类健康的潜在风险。研究结果确定了 Ca·Mg-HCO 水地球化学类型为主要的地下水类型，其中岩石风化和蒸发控制主要离子化学。由于富含锂的矿物（贾达尔石）的风化，地下水中的锂含量非常高，高达 567mg/L，中位数为 4.3mg/L。根据计算的 EWQI，86.4%的样本属于用于饮用的差和极差水质。对研究区域的地理空间制图揭示了几个地下水严重污染的热点。风险评估结果表明，地下水污染物对居民构成了重大的非致癌和致癌的健康风险，大多数样本超过了危害指数（HI）和增量终生癌症风险（ILCR）的允许限值。摄入暴露途径已被确定为关键的污染物途径。蒙特卡罗风险模拟表明，两个年龄组患癌症的可能性都非常高。敏感性分析突出了摄入率和人体体重作为影响健康风险评估结果可变性的两个最具影响力的暴露因素。
