TRIHALOMETHANES IN DRINKING-WATER AND CANCER - RISK ASSESSMENT AND INTEGRATED EVALUATION OF AVAILABLE DATA, IN ANIMALS AND HUMANS

In our study, we attempted to jointly consider THM concentration data collected from drinking waters and carcinogenic risk assessment derived from mathematical models commonly used in this field (multi-stage models for laboratory animal experimentation data, and 'unit risk' derived from the relative risk in the case of epidemiological data). In order to estimate the risks related to joint exposure to different THMs, in this study the risk additivity hypothesis is taken into account. Based on animal data for the various tumors, carcinogenic risk estimates for different THM combinations vary from 2.7 x 10(-7) to 4.6 x 10(-6) per mu g/l in relation to different carcinogenic substances published in the literature or specifically calculated in this study. The carcinogenic risk parameters derived from experimental studies and from epidemiological data were substantially consistent. Our study uses also as an example some data on concentration levels of THMs for drinking water supplies in Sardinia. The area mean THM concentration values for each supply varied, for ground waters, from 8.1 to 13.6 mu g/l and, for surface waters, from 52.8 to 168 mu g/l. For the 1976-1989 period, bladder cancer standardized mortality rates in the water distribution system areas where the THMs were measured indicate values similar, but generally lower, than the national ones, except in the province of Cagliari where the values were not significantly different. The risk estimates derived from animal studies are of the same order of magnitude as the epidemiological data in literature.