Human Health Risk Assessment of Chromium in Drinking Water: Birjand, Iran

Background and Aim: The aim of this study is to evaluate the human health risk of Cr (VI) and Cr(III) in different age categories via oral and dermal exposure of drinking water in groundwater samples in the city of Birjand. Materials and Methods: Two hundred and twenty-four groundwater samples were collected from 28 wells in the city of Birjand to determine the CrT and Cr (VI) concentrations. The risk assessment of each categories was carried out using mathematical models as per IRIS guidelines and the input parameters were taken according to the EPA and WHO context. Results: Maximum Concentration of CrT and Cr (VI) that was considered to estimate human health risk assessment were 0.2116 and 0.1904 mg/ L respectively. The obtained results revealed that as age increases, the total cancer risk (dermal and oral) increases, so that the lowest and highest carcinogenic risk is in infants and in the adults, respectively. While, the highest total non-carcinogenic risk was observed in people under 14 years of age and the maximum non-carcinogenic risk of adults was lower (approximately 4 times lower) than them. The results showed that the cancer risk and non-cancer risk via dermal exposure in infants was higher than the cancer risk and non-cancer risk via oral exposure, but in other groups, the oral cancer risk was higher than the dermal cancer risk. Conclusion: The results of this analysis suggest to use cost-effective methods to remove the Cr(VI) before its utilization for drinking purposes.

کلیدواژه ها:

Chromium ، Birjand ، Groundwater ، Risk assessment