Non-carcinogenic health risk assessment of nitrate in bottled drinking waters sold in Iranian markets: A Monte Carlo simulation

Abstract

The main objective of the current research was to evaluate nitrate content in different brands of bottled drinking waters sold in Iranian markets using the available data in the literature and to assess the health risk associated with the consumption of drinking water containing this contaminant. The concentrations of nitrate in different brands of bottled waters in Iranian markets from 16 previous studies during 2010–2018 were derived and used for human health risk assessment. PubMed, Scopus, Science Direct, Web of Science, and Google Scholar and also Iranian database (Irandoc) were searched to find all published studies regarding the levels of nitrate in bottled drinking waters in Iran. The health risk assessment was estimated using chronic daily intake and hazard quotient based on the methodology suggested by the USEPA. The levels of nitrate in published studies varied considerably, ranging from 0.1 mg/L to 35.2 mg/L which were less than the regulatory limit of 45 mg/L for drinking water set by the USEPA. The ranges of CDI values for bottled waters were as follows: 5.13×10−4 mg/(kg d) – 8.38×10−1 mg/(kg d) [mean 3.93×10−1 mg/(kg d)], 1.58×10−5 mg/(kg d) – 2.58×10−2 mg/(kg d) [mean 1.21×10−2 mg/(kg d)], 1.09×10−6 mg/(kg d) – 1.78×10−3 mg/(kg d) [mean 8.33×10−4 mg/(kg d)] for men, women, and children, respectively. The results showed that health risk in all the studies was well within the safe zone (HQ women > children.