Van der Heijden C A, Van Kreijl C F
Sci Total Environ. 1985 Dec;47:479-85. doi: 10.1016/0048-9697(85)90352-3.
Public and scientific concern has been expressed on the possible hazards of trace amounts of organic compounds with carcinogenic and mutagenic properties, identified in drinking water. For a number of these compounds, the carcinogenicity is well established according to IARC criteria, but the extremely low concentrations (less than 1 microgram/l) indicate a neglectable risk to humans. Some compounds, mainly volatile halogenated alkylated hydrocarbons, may be present at higher concentrations, but for these the weight of evidence for carcinogenicity often is very poor, being demonstrated in mouse liver only. The relevance of mouse liver tumours may be seriously questioned, especially after exposure to hepatotoxic doses and in the absence of sufficient evidence for genotoxicity. It is therefore not justified, to use a non-threshold approach in the toxicological evaluation of these compounds. More or less similar conclusions can be derived for the organic "mutagens" identified in water, that is either their concentration is extremely low or sufficient evidence for genotoxicity is lacking. It is concluded therefore, that, at the present time, drinking water in the Western world can be regarded in general as "chemically safe".
已有人对饮用水中发现的具有致癌和致突变特性的痕量有机化合物可能存在的危害表达了公众关注和科学关注。对于其中一些化合物，根据国际癌症研究机构（IARC）的标准，其致癌性已得到充分证实，但极低的浓度（低于1微克/升）表明对人类的风险可忽略不计。一些化合物，主要是挥发性卤代烷基化烃，可能以较高浓度存在，但对于这些化合物，致癌性的证据往往非常薄弱，仅在小鼠肝脏中得到证实。小鼠肝脏肿瘤的关联性可能会受到严重质疑，尤其是在接触肝毒性剂量且缺乏足够基因毒性证据的情况下。因此，在对这些化合物进行毒理学评估时采用无阈值方法是不合理的。对于水中发现的有机“诱变剂”，也可得出大致相似的结论，即要么它们的浓度极低，要么缺乏足够的基因毒性证据。因此得出结论，目前西方世界的饮用水总体上可被视为“化学安全”。
