Study of Non-Carcinogenic Risk to Public Health from Oral Consumption of Substandard Groundwater in the Nizhnevolzhsky Basin

Abstract

The analysis of non-carcinogenic health risks associated with oral intake of toxicants is a relevant approach for the identification of endemic ecologically dependent diseases. It is based on the assessment of chronic exposure to various chemicals having a unidirectional mechanism of toxic effect. Main goal of the study is the sanitary and environmental assessment of drinking water from underground water supply sources of the Nizhnevolzhsky basin of the Volgograd region based on a step-by-step procedure for public health risk assessing. Study area GIS-data analysis was performed at the stage of hazard detection step (selection of a list of priority pollutants); a laboratory analysis of the chemical composition of water was carried out; the calculation of the dose of toxicants entering the body with drinking water was performed. For the first time for the territory of the Volgograd region, we calculated non-carcinogenic risks associated with oral intake of toxicants, revealed critical system and organs, mostly susceptible for the development of non-carcinogenic phenomena. An analysis of the literary sources devoted to the problems of the formation of substandard groundwater for drinking purposes and the health risks associated with this phenomenon was carried out according to the list of priority pollutants determined in the current study. It is possible to use the results of the study to adjust measures in the organization of water treatment and procedures for improving the social and hygienic monitoring of the health of water users of the Nizhnevolzhsky underground basin.