Problems in Assessing the Risks of Mixtures of Contaminants in Drinking Water

Abstract

In conducting risk assessments on drinking water contaminants, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) attempts to evaluate all available toxicity data to develop Health Advisory (HA) and Maximum Contaminant Level Goal (MCLG) values. The EPA often has grappled with the issues surrounding the toxicity of chemical mixtures, including radioactive contaminants, nitrate/nitrite, and trihalomethanes (THMs). In evaluating the toxicity of chemical mixtures, the EPA's immediate concern is whether the individual HA values and MCLGs are protecting public health when multiple contaminants are present in drinking water. Potential toxic interactions between drinking water contaminants are difficult to predict because experimental studies are generally performed only at high doses relative to environmental levels. Although the contamination of drinking water involves mixtures of contaminants, drinking water regulations are generally based on an assessment of the risks of individual contaminants. This paper discusses three issues of major concern to the EPA: the synergistic effects of solvent mixtures, vehicle effects in laboratory studies, and setting standards for essential trace nutrients where the absorption and/or toxicity are affected by an individual's nutritional status or other dietary components.