Non-carcinogenic risk assessment of drinking water nitrate in the urban and rural area of the Bostanabad County in 2017

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Public Health, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.

2 Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Public Health, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran

3 Department of Environmental Health Engineering, East Azerbaijan Province Health Center, Tabriz, Iran.

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the concentration and the Non-carcinogenic risk associated with nitrate in the drinking water of Bostanabad city over different age groups. In this descriptive cross-sectional study, nitrate concentration was measured in 98 drinking water samples (18urban samples and 80 rural samples). Also, Non-carcinogenic risk assessment was determined using the indicators of the Environmental Protection Agency. The mean concentration of nitrate in the drinking water of urban and rural areas of Bostanabad was 10.56 and 14.65 mg/L, respectively. Nitrate concentration in 95.91% of the samples was lower than the standard. The mean Hazard Quotient )HQ( values due to nitrate in drinking water for the four age groups of infants, children, teenager and adults both urban and rural areas were less than one. However, HQ values was more than 1 in 5.5% of urban water samples and in 11.25% of rural water samples over age group of children. According to the results, in most cases, the concentration of nitrate in drinking water was less than the national standard of Iran and the World Health Organization. However, age group of children are at Non-carcinogenic risk from drinking water nitrate.

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