Trace Heavy Metal Contamination of Urban Water Bodies in Central Asia: Its Distribution, Source Detection, and Probabilistic Health Risk Assessment for Recreational and Household Use of Water
Bahetnur Y. Lee W.
11 August 2023American Chemical Society
ACS ES and T Water
2023#3Issue 82765 - 2775 pp.
Water scarcity, security, and deterioration of water quality have been serious environmental issues in Central Asia. This study has investigated the contamination of the Esil river, the only transboundary river originating in Kazakhstan, and implemented the human health risk assessment of heavy metals (HMs; Cd, Pb, Cr(VI), and As) in its relevant 15 surface water bodies. HM concentrations in 2893 water samples were measured over 6 years (2014-2019). The river’s water quality was classified between “marginal” and “good,” but nine sites revealed worsened quality during the period. The monitored HMs’ median concentrations followed a decreasing order of Cr(VI) (0.0015 mg/L) = As (0.0015 mg/L) > Pb (0.0009 mg/L) > Cd (0.00005 mg/L). Human-induced behaviors, especially industrial activities, were observed to influence the water quality negatively. Due to the growth of cities, municipal wastes and the release of pollutants during construction activities were potential origins of HMs, too. Two exposure scenarios for the human health risk assessment were investigated: the risks from a recreational activity scenario were acceptable, but concerning values were obtained from a household use scenario, including seven sites with hazard index (HI) > 1 and a maximum cancer risk of 7.22 × 10-4
carcinogenic risk , Esil river basin , heavy metals , noncarcinogenic risk , spatiotemporal evaluation , surface water
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Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, School of Digital Sciences and Engineering, Nazarbayev University, Astana, 010000, Kazakhstan
Laboratory of Environmental Systems, National Laboratory Astana, Nazarbayev University, Astana, 010000, Kazakhstan
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Laboratory of Environmental Systems
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