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Human Health Risk Assessment for Exposure to Potentially Toxic Elements in Polluted Rivers in the Ecuadorian Amazon
| Content Provider | MDPI |
|---|---|
| Author | Samantha, Jiménez-Oyola Mar, ía-Jesús García-Martínez Iker, García-Garizabal Segovia, Kenny Escobar Ortega, Marcelo Bolonio, David Salgado, Bryan |
| Copyright Year | 2021 |
| Description | Anthropogenic activities performed in the Ecuadorian Amazon have released potentially toxic elements (PTEs) into the rivers, causing severe environmental pollution and increasing the risk of exposure to the residents of the surrounding areas. This study aims to carry out a human health risk assessment using deterministic and probabilistic methods to estimate the hazard index (HI) and total cancer risk (TCR) related to multi-pathway human exposure to PTEs in polluted rivers. Concentrations of Al, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb, and Zn in surface water and sediment samples from rivers on the Ecuadorian Amazon were considered to assess the potential adverse human health effects. As a result, deterministic and probabilistic estimations of cancer and non-cancer risk through exposure to surface waters and sediments were above the safety limit. A sensitivity analysis identified the concentration of PTEs and the exposure duration (ED) as the two most important variables for probabilistic health risk assessment. The highest risk for receptors was related to exposure to polluted sediments through incidental ingestion and dermal contact routes. According to the deterministic estimation, the human health risk through ingestion of water was above the threshold in specific locations. This study reveals the potential health risk to which the population is exposed. This information can be used as a baseline to develop public strategies to reduce anthropogenic pollution and exposure to PTEs in Ecuadorian Amazon rivers. |
| Starting Page | 613 |
| e-ISSN | 20734441 |
| DOI | 10.3390/w13050613 |
| Journal | Water |
| Issue Number | 5 |
| Volume Number | 13 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | MDPI |
| Publisher Date | 2021-02-26 |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Subject Keyword | Water Water Science and Technology Potentially Toxic Elements Deterministic Approach Probabilistic Approach Monte Carlo Simulation Sensitivity Analysis |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |
