Surface Water Quality and Health Risk Assessment in Taizhou City, Zhejiang Province (China)

In this study, 419 water samples were collected from 47 river sections during January to September in 2019 for the assessment of the surface water quality in Taizhou City. Hierarchical cluster analysis was used to group water samples for further water quality analysis. Water quality was evaluated based on the water quality identification index. Seven water quality indicators including copper, fluoride, arsenic, cyanide, mercury, hexavalent chromium and zinc were selected to evaluate the potential non-carcinogenic risk and carcinogenic risk to the people who use the surface water for domestic purpose in Taizhou City. The results indicate that nitrogen pollution is serious in some locations. According to the water quality assessment results, 74.46% of the surface water samples have excellent and good quality, and 23.87% of the samples are rated as poor or extremely poor water. Surface water in the districts of Wenling, Jiaojiang and Luqiao poses an unacceptable non-carcinogenic risk to humans through drinking water intake and skin contact, while in other districts of the city the non-carcinogenic risk is acceptable. In addition, people in Taizhou City face a potential carcinogenic risk. Arsenic is the major chemical carcinogen in the area responsible for the potential carcinogenic health risk, and it should be treated before used for domestic purpose.