A tiered assessment of human health risks associated with exposure to persistent, mobile and toxic chemicals via drinking water

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dc.contributor.authorWhelan, Michael J.
dc.contributor.authorPemberton, Emma
dc.contributor.authorHughes, Christopher B.
dc.contributor.authorSwansborough, Chesney
dc.contributor.authorGoslan, Emma Harriet
dc.contributor.authorGouin, Todd
dc.contributor.authorBell, Victoria A.
dc.contributor.authorBird, E.
dc.contributor.authorBull, S.
dc.contributor.authorSegal, L.
dc.contributor.authorCook, S. H.
dc.contributor.authorJephcote, Calvin
dc.contributor.authorFane, Sarah
dc.date.accessioned2024-12-20T16:07:41Z
dc.date.available2024-12-20T16:07:41Z
dc.date.freetoread2024-12-20
dc.date.issued2025-01-01
dc.date.pubOnline2024-12-05
dc.description.abstractThere is increasing interest in chemicals which are persistent, mobile and toxic (PMT), primarily to protect drinking water. We present a tiered assessment of drinking water exposure and associated human health risks for 22 PMT substances. Worst-case exposure via drinking water is assumed to occur when wastewater is discharged to rivers which are then abstracted for water supply. Screening-level exposures assume daily per capita emissions based on REACH tonnage estimates, with removal in wastewater treatment calculated using SimpleTreat and no riverine dilution. Removal in water treatment was estimated for each substance assuming either conventional or advanced treatment processes. Higher tier spatially-resolved exposures used a gridded routing model which transfers chemical through the landscape based on flow directions derived from a 1 km digital elevation model. Emission was assumed to be proportional to population and no in-stream degradation was assumed. Exposures were calculated for 296 locations containing drinking water treatment works (WTWs) under mean discharge and Q95 (discharge exceeded 95% of the time). At low tiers, risk characterisation ratios (RCRs) were < 1 for all substances, assuming realistic tonnage and conventional treatment. If drinking water is assumed to represent only 20 % of total chemical intake, total RCRs (RCRT) were > 1 for three substances under conventional treatment but were < 1 for all substances under advanced treatment. Highest exposure and RCRs were predicted in highly populated areas with low dilution. RCRT values were > 1 for tetrachloroethylene (highest RCR) at up to 18 % of WTW locations under Q95 conditions assuming conventional treatment. However, RCRT was <1 for all locations assuming advanced treatment. Actual exposures will depend on catchment characteristics, but the model usefully allows prioritising higher risk chemicals and WTWs. Overall, the substances evaluated are unlikely to currently pose health risks, provided an appropriate level of water treatment is employed.
dc.description.journalNameScience of The Total Environment
dc.description.sponsorshipNational Institute for Health and Care Research, Department of Health and Social Care, Health and Safety Executive, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
dc.description.sponsorshipThis research was funded by the UK Drinking Water Inspectorate.
dc.identifier.citationWhelan MJ, Pemberton E, Hughes CB, et al., (2025) A tiered assessment of human health risks associated with exposure to persistent, mobile and toxic chemicals via drinking water. Science of The Total Environment, Volume 958, January 2025, Article number 177868
dc.identifier.eissn1879-1026
dc.identifier.elementsID560609
dc.identifier.issn0048-9697
dc.identifier.paperNo177868
dc.identifier.urihttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.177868
dc.identifier.urihttps://dspace.lib.cranfield.ac.uk/handle/1826/23301
dc.identifier.volumeNo958
dc.languageEnglish
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherElsevier
dc.publisher.urihttps://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969724080252?via%3Dihub
dc.rightsAttribution 4.0 Internationalen
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.subject4104 Environmental Management
dc.subject40 Engineering
dc.subject41 Environmental Sciences
dc.subject4004 Chemical Engineering
dc.subject4011 Environmental Engineering
dc.subjectFoodborne Illness
dc.subject2.2 Factors relating to the physical environment
dc.subject3 Good Health and Well Being
dc.subject6 Clean Water and Sanitation
dc.subjectDrinking water
dc.subjectHuman health
dc.subjectMobile and Toxic
dc.subjectOrganic contaminant
dc.subjectPersistent
dc.subjectSpatial exposure modelling
dc.subjectTiered risk assessment
dc.subjectEnvironmental Sciences
dc.titleA tiered assessment of human health risks associated with exposure to persistent, mobile and toxic chemicals via drinking water
dc.typeArticle
dc.type.subtypeJournal Article
dcterms.dateAccepted2024-11-29

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