Sobol sensitivity analysis for non-carcinogenic health risk assessment and water quality index for Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Province, Western Iran

Abstract

Human activities and climate may have an impact on the water quality of reservoirs. Therefore, the present research aims to use the entropy water quality index assessment technique to analyze the water quality features of the main water supply reservoirs as well as to investigate the effect of water parameters on the water quality of the reservoirs. In this study, the total non-carcinogenic health risks from various exposure paths were estimated for adults and children. The water quality of the major water supply reservoirs in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province was typically poor and unfit for human consumption. Besides, the non-carcinogenic risk was higher in males (0.958–1.497) and children (1.065–1.664) than in females (0.879–1.374) according to health risk assessments. Among the factors under study, magnesium and nitrate had the highest influence on the non-carcinogenic risk. Finally, the sensitivity of each of the parameters affecting the non-carcinogenic risk was assessed using Sobel sensitivity analysis. The results indicated that the nitrate concentration (Cw) and Ingestion Rate (IR) were the most sensitive in the oral state, while Cw and fraction of skin’s surface area (F) were more sensitive in the dermal state.