Health Implications of PAH Release from Coated Cast Iron Drinking Water Distribution Systems in the Netherlands

Abstract

Background: Coal tar and bitumen have been historically used to coat the insides of cast iron drinking water mains. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) may leach from these coatings into the drinking water and form a potential health risk for humans.Objective: We estimated the potential human cancer risk from PAHs in coated cast iron water mains.Method: In a Dutch nationwide study, we collected drinking water samples at 120 locations over a period of 17 days under various operational conditions, such as undisturbed operation, during flushing of pipes, and after a mains repair, and analyzed these samples for PAHs. We then estimated the health risk associated with an exposure scenario over a lifetime.Results: During flushing, PAH levels frequently exceeded drinking water quality standards; after flushing, these levels dropped rapidly. After the repair of cast iron water mains, PAH levels exceeded the drinking water standards for up to 40 days in some locations.Conclusions: The estimated margin of exposure for PAH exposure through drinking water was > 10,000 for all 120 measurement locations, which suggests that PAH exposure through drinking water is of low concern for consumer health. However, factors that differ among water systems, such as the use of chlorination for disinfection, may influence PAH levels in other locations.

Co-PBK: a computational biomonitoring tool for assessing chronic internal exposure to chemicals and metabolites

“…The output results in response to varying model inputs can be used to evaluate the contributions of the model inputs to the simulation outcomes. The sensitivity analysis was conducted for the whole rst-order kinetic-based rate constants using eqn (8) to calculate the sensitivity factor, as follows:…”

“…Sensitivity factor ¼ valueðoutputÞ varied À valueðoutputÞ origin valueðoutputÞ origin  constant variation (8) where value(output) origin and value(output) varied represent the original and changed values of the output item, respectively, and constant variation is dened as 10% and −10%. Thus, according to eqn (8), the nal value of sensitivity factors will be in the range of −10 to 10.…”

“…[1][2][3] Typically, air is the most direct ambient medium causing human exposure to contaminants through inhalation, 4,5 including volatile persistent organic pollutants, such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). [6][7][8] Owing to the substance circulation in nature, toxic chemicals are potentially transported to the soil and sediment. 9 Consequently, plants can directly uptake these toxic chemicals from environmental matrices owing to their innate biological functions (e.g., respiration and transpiration).…”

Distribution, possible sources, and health risk assessment of SVOC pollution in small streams in Pearl River Delta, China

“…This method was widely applied for cancer risk assessment of PAHs through dietary intake and water consumption (Benford et al 2010;Blokker et al 2013). MOE is calculated according to Eq.…”

Phenanthrene-Induced Apoptosis and Its Underlying Mechanism

“…According to a previous in vitro study, an approximately 24% human skin absorption rate was detected after 0.64 cm 2 of skin was exposed to a 0.1 mL solution of 1 μg/mL Phe for 24 h . In The Netherlands, the maximum measured concentration of Phe in drinking water from 120 locations was 6 μg/L . Phe concentrations in the pore water of the Jiulong River Estuary and Western Xiamen Sea in China are reported to be greater than 20 μg/L …”