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Uncertainty health risk assessment and regional control of drinking water: a case study of Hanyuan County, southwest mountainous area, China

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Abstract

To evaluate the health risks of drinking water in Hanyuan County, 96 samples of peripheral drinking water were collected from 30 sites in the area. The samples were then analyzed for chemical properties including Fe, Mn, NH3-N, \({\mathrm{NO}}_{3}^{-}\), F−, Pb, Hg, As, Cr(VI), Cd, and so on. The health risks of ten trace elements in drinking water were probabilistically assessed using the health risk assessment model and Monte Carlo simulation. On this basis, sequential indicator simulations were used to classify the health risk levels of drinking water in the region, to conduct hierarchical management and control. The results showed that except for \({\mathrm{NO}}_{3}^{-}\), all other indicators met World Health Organization standards and China’s drinking water sanitation standards. Drinking water presents a specific carcinogenic risk to adults, and the cumulative contribution of As and Cr(VI) exceeds 95%, and has a specific non-carcinogenic risk to children if the cumulative contribution of F−, \({\mathrm{NO}}_{3}^{-}\), and As exceeds 90%. Grade I, II, and III non-carcinogenic risk areas accounted for 0.89%, 24.72%, and 74.39% of the total area of Hanyuan County, respectively, while grade I, II, and III carcinogenic risk areas accounted for 27.71%, 45.56%, and 26.73% of the total Hanyuan County area, respectively. Finally, according to the health risk characteristics of each control area, corresponding zoning control suggestions were proposed.

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Data availability

The datasets used and analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

We sincerely appreciate the editors’ and anonymous reviewers’ significant comments and suggestions for adding to the quality of the study.

Funding

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51779211, Grant No. 51209178) and the Sichuan Science and Technology Program (Grant No. 2019YJ0233).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Geosciences and Environmental Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu, 611756, China

    Zhengjiang Lin, Ying Liu, Zhihui Cheng, Rui Zhao & Han Zhang

Authors
  1. Zhengjiang Lin
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  2. Ying Liu
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  3. Zhihui Cheng
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  4. Rui Zhao
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  5. Han Zhang
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation and analysis were performed by Zhengjiang Lin, Ying Liu, and Zhihui Cheng. Data collection was performed by Ying Liu. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Zhengjiang Lin and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Ying Liu.

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Responsible editor: Xianliang Yi

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Lin, Z., Liu, Y., Cheng, Z. et al. Uncertainty health risk assessment and regional control of drinking water: a case study of Hanyuan County, southwest mountainous area, China. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 68202–68215 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-20688-y

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