Health risk assessment due to the presence of heavy metals in drinking water resources of Maragheh city

Heavy metals in water can pose risks to human health. Therefore, it is necessary to monitor and measure metals to ensure the health of consumers.

This study aimed to measure heavy metals such as arsenic, lead, cadmium, chromium, zinc, and mercury in water resources and urban water distribution networks in spring and summer of 2021 in Maragheh city. Accordingly, 25 samples were taken to investigate the presence of heavy metals. The presence of these metals in water sources was investigated using qualitative maps and finally, by evaluating the health risk caused by the presence of these metals, their effect on the health of consumers has been studied.

Examining the concentration of metals in water resources upstream of the dam shows a relatively high concentration of metals, especially arsenic (13.2 µg/L). Despite this, the amount of arsenic after the water treatment plant and in the distribution network is reduced to an insignificant level. On the other hand, the results show that the amount of zinc metal in the network is higher than in the reservoir of the dam, and its concentration in the dam is equal to zero and in the network, it reaches the highest value of 578 µg/L. Finally, the health risk assessment shows that the calculated THI values for all samples vary between 0.01 and 0.99.

Based on the calculated health risk, there is no threat to the health of consumers regarding heavy metals in Maragheh drinking water. Also, these results double the necessity of additional studies regarding the leakage of zinc metal from the pipes and accessories of the city's drinking water distribution network in the future.