Human Health Risk Assessment on Drinking Water Safety in Rural Area of Ya'an

This paper applied the health risk assessment model recommended by the American Environmental Protection Bureau (EPA) , calculation the health risk and analysis the test index about As, Hg, Cr⁶⁺, Pb, Cd, F in Ya'an rural drinking water. The result indicates that the average concentration of the pollutants are respectively as follows: As: 0.004 mg/l, Hg: 0.001 mg/1, Cr⁶⁺: 0.005-0.015 mg/l, Pb: 0.01 mg/l, Cd: 0.005 mg/l, F: 0.01~1.4 mg/l. Among the non-carcinogenic health risk in the research areas caused by the drinking water, the Pb's risk is the biggest, followed by F and Hg which risk level is 10^-8 /a ~10^-10 /a; the carcinogenic risk caused by Cr⁶⁺ is the biggest, reaching 10^-4/a, and meets the EPA requirement, but is higher than the maximal risk level that International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) can accept.