ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Assessment of Multipathway Lifetime Risks
of Cancer and Non-Cancerous Diseases
Associated with Trihalomethanes in Drinking
Water in Petropavlovsk City, Kazakhstan
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Department of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Vytautas Magnus University,
Universiteto street, 10, 53361 Akademija, Lithuania
Submission date: 2022-01-04
Final revision date: 2022-03-22
Acceptance date: 2022-03-29
Online publication date: 2022-06-06
Publication date: 2022-09-01
Corresponding author
Nazim Nikiforov
Department of Environmental Sciences, Vytautas Magnus University, Universiteto, 8, 53361, Kaunas, Lithuania
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2022;31(5):4085-4095
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ABSTRACT
Chlorine (Cl-) is used as a disinfectant of drinking water and drinking water distribution networks
in Petropavlovsk, Kazakhstan. The disinfectant, interacting with fulvic and humic acids, forms
disinfection by-products (DBPs), particularly, trihalomethanes (THMs). THMs might be harmful
to the population, as it may cause cancer and non-cancerous diseases. As a result, the current study
was focused on the assessments of the lifetime risk of cancer and non-cancerous diseases associated
with THMs in Petropavlovsk community. To calculate multipathway lifetime risks of cancer
and non-cancerous diseases associated with THMs we used combined United States Environmental
Protection Agency (US EPA) and scientific methods. The mean concentrations of CHCl3, CHBr3,
and CHCl2Br in drinking water were 18.41 μg/L, 48.7 μg/L, and 6.15 μg/L, respectively. The mean
lifetime risk of cancer associated with THMs in drinking water was 3.83 × 10-5. The total lifetime risk
of non-cancerous diseases associated with THMs was 2.13 × 10-1. The total lifetime risks for cancer
from the three routes for the three THMs at 50th and 95th percentile scenarios were higher than the risk
of the US EPA recommendation of 1.00 × 10-6, while the total lifetime risks of non-cancerous diseases
associated with THMs were lower than the US EPA recommendation of 1.