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Proposal of New Health Risk Assessment Method for Deficient Essential Elements in Drinking Water—Case Study of the Slovak Republic

Author

Listed:
  • Stanislav Rapant

    (Department of Geochemistry, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University in Bratislava, Ilkovičova 6, 842 15 Bratislava, Slovakia)

  • Veronika Cvečková

    (Department of Geochemistry, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University in Bratislava, Ilkovičova 6, 842 15 Bratislava, Slovakia)

  • Edgar Hiller

    (Department of Geochemistry, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University in Bratislava, Ilkovičova 6, 842 15 Bratislava, Slovakia)

  • Dana Jurkovičová

    (Cancer Research Institute, Biomedical Research Center, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dúbravská cesta 9, 845 05 Bratislava, Slovakia)

  • František Kožíšek

    (National Institute of Public Health, Šrobárová 49/48, 100 00 Praha 10, Czech Republic)

  • Beáta Stehlíková

    (Faculty of Economics of Business, Pan-European University, Tematínska 10, 851 05 Bratislava 5, Slovakia)

Abstract

The US EPA health risk assessment method is currently widely used to assess human health risks for many environmental constituents. It is used for risk assessment from the exposure to various contaminants exceeding tolerable or safe reference doses, determined e.g., for drinking water, soil, air and food. It accepts widely that excess contents of non-essential elements (e.g., As, Pb or Sb) in environmental compartments represent a general risk to human health. However, contrary to toxic trace elements, deficient contents of essential (biogenic) elements e.g., F, I, Se, Zn, Fe, Ca or Mg may represent even higher health risk. Therefore, we propose to extend the human health risk assessment by calculating the health risk for deficient content and intake of essential elements, and to introduce the terms Average Daily Missing Dose (ADMD), Average Daily Required Dose (ADRD) and Average Daily Accepted Dose (ADAD). We propose the following equation to calculate the Hazard Quotient (HQ) of health risk from deficient elements: HQ d = ADRD/ADAD. At present, there are no reference concentrations or doses of essential elements in each environmental compartment in world databases (Integrated Risk Information System IRIS, The Risk Assessment Information System RAIS). ADRD and ADMD can be derived from different regulatory standards or guidelines (if they exist) or calculated from actual regional data on the state of population health and content of essential elements in the environment, e.g., in groundwater or soil. This methodology was elaborated and tested on inhabitants of the Slovak Republic supplied with soft drinking water with an average Mg content of 5.66 mg·L −1 . The calculated ADMD of Mg for these inhabitants is 0.314 mg·kg −1 ·day −1 and HQ d is equal to 2.94, indicating medium risk of chronic diseases. This method extending traditional health risk assessment is the first attempt to quantify deficient content of essential elements in drinking water. It still has some limitations but also has potential to be further developed and refined through its testing in other countries.

Suggested Citation

  • Stanislav Rapant & Veronika Cvečková & Edgar Hiller & Dana Jurkovičová & František Kožíšek & Beáta Stehlíková, 2020. "Proposal of New Health Risk Assessment Method for Deficient Essential Elements in Drinking Water—Case Study of the Slovak Republic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(16), pages 1-16, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:16:p:5915-:d:399236
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Stanislav Rapant & Veronika Cvečková & Katarína Fajčíková & Darina Sedláková & Beáta Stehlíková, 2017. "Impact of Calcium and Magnesium in Groundwater and Drinking Water on the Health of Inhabitants of the Slovak Republic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(3), pages 1-21, March.
    2. Stanislav Rapant & Veronika Cvečková & Katarína Fajčíková & Igor Hajdúk & Edgar Hiller & Beáta Stehlíková, 2019. "Hard Water, More Elastic Arteries: A Case Study from Krupina District, Slovakia," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(9), pages 1-14, April.
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