Identification of trace organic pollutants in freshwater sources in Eastern China and estimation of their associated human health risks

Concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) in ten water samples (four pairs of tap water with source water and two additional tap water) were analyzed and a US EPA algorithm was used to estimate their associated human health risks. Organochlorine pesticides were found in most samples analyzed. Concentrations of total PAHs ranged from 4.8 to 84.4 and 0.7 to 53.8 ng/l, for source and tap water, respectively. Carcinogenic and noncarcinogenic risk assessments were employed for various trace organic pollutants in the tap water. The results indicated that carcinogenic risk for male and female lifetime of tap water from XuZh (XZ) city was higher than the others. XZ located in the northern part of Jiangsu province, which takes ground water as the water source. Children were more vulnerable to the carcinogenic chemicals than adults. Carcinogenic risks for male children (0–14 years old) in XZ were the highest, reaching 3.68 × 10−6. Contribution analysis showed that dibenz[a,h]anthracene contributed most to the carcinogenic risk in XZ city, and α-HCH, β-HCH and γ-HCH posed the most carcinogenic risk in tap water from GoHu (GH) in Eastern Taihu Lake. Additionally, noncarcinogenic risks posed by the detected chemicals to local people were negligible. Risk alleviation strategies should be adopted, taking into account the results of these health risk assessments.