IMPORTANCE OF WATER INTAKE RATE ON HEALTH RISK ASSESSMENT FOR POLLUTANTS IN WATER FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION;
IMPORTANCE OF WATER INTAKE RATE ON HEALTH RISK ASSESSMENT FOR POLLUTANTS IN WATER FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION

We evaluated the influence of the direct water intake rate (IR) on health risk assessment (HRA) for humans exposed to pollutants in residential well water in Azul, Argentina. The probabilistic cumulative risk was calculated considering four age groups (5, 10, 15 years old and adults). We compared the risk results for two different IRs: one frequently used in literature and the other one based on local survey results. From the six variables used in the HRA, IR was the most influential one. There were significant differences in risk values between the two considered IRs. The largest difference was found in the 5-years-old group in which the cumulative risk associated with the local IR was 98% lower than the literature based IR. We concluded that the IR has such a significant influence on the risk results that its value must be carefully determined before performing HRA to avoid misleading results. 

We evaluated the influence of the direct water intake rate (IR) on health risk assessment (HRA) for humans exposed to pollutants in residential well water in Azul, Argentina. The probabilistic cumulative risk was calculated considering four age groups (5, 10, 15 years old and adults). We compared the risk results for two different IRs: one frequently used in literature and the other one based on local survey results. From the six variables used in the HRA, IR was the most influential one. There were significant differences in risk values between the two considered IRs. The largest difference was found in the 5-years-old group in which the cumulative risk associated with the local IR was 98% lower than the literature based IR. We concluded that the IR has such a significant influence on the risk results that its value must be carefully determined before performing HRA to avoid misleading results.