scholarly journals Estimating pesticides in public drinking water at the household level in Denmark

Author(s):  
Denitza D. Voutchkova ◽  
Jörg Schullehner ◽  
Carina Skaarup ◽  
Kirstine Wodschow ◽  
Annette Kjær Ersbøll ◽  
...  

Pesticide pollution has raised public concern in Denmark due to potential negative health impacts and frequent findings of new substances after a recent expansion of the groundwater monitoring programme. Danish drinking water comes entirely from groundwater. Both the raw groundwater and the treated drinking water are regularly monitored, and the chemical analyses are reported to a publicly available national database (Jupiter). Based on these data, in this study we (1) provide a status of pesticide content in drinking water supplied by public waterworks in Denmark and (2) assess the proportion of Danish households exposed to pesticides from drinking water. ‘Pesticides’ here refers also to their metabolites, degradation and reaction products. The cleaned dataset represents 3004 public waterworks distributed throughout the country and includes 39 798 samples of treated drinking water analysed for 449 pesticides (971 723 analyses total) for the period 2002–2019. Of all these chemical analyses, 0.5% (n = 4925) contained a quantified pesticide (>0.03 μg/l). Pesticides were found at least once in the treated drinking water at 29% of all sampled public waterworks for the period 2002–2019 and at 21% of the waterworks for the recent period 2015–2019. We estimate that 56% of all Danish households were potentially exposed at least once to pesticides in drinking water at concentrations of 0.03–4.00 μg/l between 2002 and 2019. However, in 2015–2019, the proportion of the Danish households exposed to pesticides (0.03–4.00 μg/l) was 41%. The proportion of Danish households potentially exposed at least once to pesticides above the maximum allowed concentration (0.1 μg/l) according to the EU Drinking Water Directive (and the Danish drinking water standard) was 19% for 2002–2019 and 11% for 2015–2019. However, the maximum concentrations were lower than the World Health Organization’s compound-specific guidelines. Lastly, we explore data complexity and discuss the limitations imposed by data heterogeneity to facilitate future epidemiological studies.

2011 ◽  
Vol 63 (10) ◽  
pp. 2193-2198 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. R. Archer ◽  
A. C. Elmore ◽  
E. Bell ◽  
C. Rozycki

Ceramic pot filters (CPFs) is one of several household water treatment technologies that is used to treat drinking water in developing areas. The filters have the advantage of being able to be manufactured using primarily locally available materials and local labor. However, naturallyoccurring arsenic present in the clay used to make the filters has the potential to contaminate the water in excess of the World Health Organization drinking water standard of 0.01 mg/L. A manufacturing facility in Guatemala routinely rinses filters to reduce arsenic concentrations prior to distribution to consumers. A systemic study was performed to evaluate the change in arsenic concentrations with increasing volumes of rinse water. Arsenic field kit results were compared to standard method laboratory results, and dissolved versus suspended arsenic concentrations in CPF-treated water were evaluated. The results of the study suggest that rinsing is an effective means of mitigating arsenic leached from the filters, and that even in the absence of a formal rinsing program, routine consumer use may result in the rapid decline of arsenic concentrations. More importantly, the results indicate that filter manufacturers should give strong consideration to implementing an arsenic testing program.


2006 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 171-178 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tim Wrigley

Low technology water supply, treatment and sanitation techniques were reviewed in a Vietnamese village in the Mekong River Delta as part of an AusAID Project to reduce poverty and to improve the overall living standards and health in the Cuu Long (Mekong) delta for 500,000 rural poor. It was found that dosing of canal water in 200-l ceramic jars with alum, PAC or PAC followed by hypochlorite provides a high level of treatment for drinking water at the household level in a rural village setting in the Mekong River delta. Seventy per cent (7 in total) of the 24 samples collected showed that Escherichia coli levels per 100 ml in the jars after treatment showed a ‘no risk’ profile (0 E. coli 100 ml-1) i.e. the water would be considered to be of very good quality for drinking according to World Health Organization Guidelines for Rural Drinking Water Supply. This included the eight samples that were dosed with hypochlorite. The remaining 30% of samples (seven in total) ranged from 14 to 47 E. coli 100 ml-1 which is considered an intermediate risk (10‒100 E. coli 100 ml-1) according to WHO guidelines. All control water samples (eight in total) were high or very high risk (>100 E. coli 100 ml-1). Pesticide concentrations generally were low and met Vietnamese drinking water quality criteria.


2009 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. van Halem ◽  
S. A. Bakker ◽  
G. L. Amy ◽  
J. C. van Dijk

Abstract. For more than a decade it has been known that shallow tube wells in Bangladesh are frequently contaminated with arsenic concentrations at a level that is harmful to human health. By now it is becoming clear that a disaster of an unheard magnitude is going on: the World Health Organization fears that in the near future 1 in every 10 adult deaths in Bangladesh will be caused by arsenic-related cancers. Other studies show that problems with arsenic in groundwater/drinking water occur in many more countries worldwide, such as in the USA and China. In Europe the focus on arsenic problems is confined to countries with high arsenic levels in their groundwater, such as Romania, Hungary and Italy. In most other European countries, the naturally occurring arsenic concentrations are lower than the drinking water standard of 10 μg L−1. However, from the literature review presented in this paper, it may also be concluded that using the European standard, health risks cannot be excluded. It is therefore recommended that the current arsenic standard be reconsidered.


2001 ◽  
Vol 43 (12) ◽  
pp. 225-228 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Lahti ◽  
J. Rapala ◽  
A-L. Kivimäki ◽  
J. Kukkonen ◽  
M. Niemelä ◽  
...  

Problems caused by cyanobacteria are common around the world and also in raw water sources of drinking water treatment plants. Strains belonging to genera Microcystis, Anabaena and Planktothrix produce potent hepatotoxins, the microcystins. Laboratory and pilot scale studies have shown that microcystins dissolved in water may pass the conventional surface water treatment processes. In 1998 the World Health Organization proposed a guide value of 1 μg/L for microcystin-LR (MC-LR) in drinking water. The purpose of this research was to study the occurrence of microcystins in raw water sources of surface waterworks and in bank filtration plants and to evaluate the removal of microcystins in operating waterworks. Four bank filtration plants and nine surface waterworks using different processes for water treatment were monitored. Phytoplankton was identified and quantified, and microcystins analysed with sensitive immunoassay. Microcystin occurrence in selected water samples was verified with HPLC and a protein phosphatase inhibition method. Microcystins were detected sporadically in raw water sources of most of the waterworks. In two raw water supplies toxins were detected for several months. The highest microcystin concentrations in incoming raw water were approximately 10 μg/L MC-LR equivalents. In treated drinking water microcystins were detected occasionally but the concentrations were always below the guide value proposed by WHO.


Author(s):  
Nor Azliza Akbar ◽  
Zaidin Bin Matsin ◽  
Siti Fatihah Binti Ramli

Groundwater is the source of drinking water that needs to be maintained from pollution. Groundwater pollution is a major problem caused by human activities that are invaluable to human health. When high levels of organic and inorganic substances do not exceed the standard of drinking water, various studies have been made by researchers to overcome the problem. Various alternatives such as in-situ and ex-situ treatment have been carried out to eliminate pollutants from groundwater. Among the treatment, ozone becomes a major alternative because of its effectiveness in treating raw water. Ozone treatment has several advantages such as disinfectants, oxidize of organic and inorganic pollutant, and remove taste and color from groundwater. The performance of ozonation process becomes better when combined with other treatments. Therefore, application of ozone can replace chlorine because of its good potential to improve quality of groundwater effluent and comply drinking water standard adopted by World Health Organization.


2018 ◽  
Vol 54 (4B) ◽  
pp. 240
Author(s):  
Phan Nhu Nguyet

The communities within Binh Dinh province in the Central Vietnam are reliant on groundwater as their primary supply of domestic and potable water. Meanwhile, it is seriously contaminated with fluoride that causing fluorosis problem for people. This study aims to investigate the link between severity of dental fluorosis rate in a population and fluoride concentration in drinking water in Tay Son area. A total of 50 well-water samples were collected and 220 people were surveyed by questionnaire from 50 households at 3 villages: Tay Phu, Binh Tuong, Tay Giang of Tay Son district, Binh Dinh province, Vietnam. The quantitative assessment of severity of dental fluorosis was done by calculating the Community Fluorosis Index (CFI) using Dean’s classification. Result of this study showed that fluoride concentration in well-water varied from 0.31 mg/L to 7.69 mg/L (mean 2.66 mg/L, SD: 2.18 mg/L) with 70 % of well-water samples above the maximum permissible limit of 1.5 mg/L of World Health Organization (WHO) drinking water standard. 100 % people surveyed was suffered from dental fluorosis and Dean scale of dental fluorosis ranged from level 2 to level 5. CFI varied from 3.45 to 4.13 above limit value (0.6). The community seriously suffered from dental fluorosis. The fluoride concentrations and Dean Index have high correlation (r = 0.580, p < 0.0001). Based upon results of this study, it is recommended that the government should supply drinking water with appropriate fluoride content for this community.


2021 ◽  
pp. 3816-3826
Author(s):  
Othman Abdulrahman Mohammed

Water is crucial for all known forms of life without providing any calories or organic nutrients, while many people, especially in developing countries, may not be able to access pure and safe drinking water. They could lose their lives or become sick because waterborne diseases could contaminate the water, and when the chemical and/or physical properties of the water are not within the national and international standards. Thus, the present study aimed to evaluate water quality of the Halabja drinking water and Sirwan river. Halabja city is located to north of Iraq, north-east of the capital Baghdad. Every week of the year 2019, apart from official holidays, water samples were collected from each of river and several areas (4-10 sections) in Halabja for the bacteriological analysis, while chemical and physical water quality was monthly checked. The results showed no detectable waterborne pathogens in all drinking water samples. Additionally, values of pH, turbidity, total dissolved substances, and electrical conductivity of the purified water samples had ranges of 7.97–8.5, 0.02-0.8 NTU, 246–362 mg/L, and 383–566 µS/cm, respectively. The treated drinking water was free of Free Residual Chlorine (FRC) and nitrite. The amounts of chloride, sulfate, and nitrate varied during the year 2019, with ranges of 48.2- 73.8, 36-141.5, and 1-5 mg/L, respectively. The values of water hardness and Ca+2 and Mg+2 concentrations ranged 132- 344, 48–89.5, and 2.2-29.2 mg/L, respectively. Based on the results, values of all the above parameters were within the Iraqi and the World Health Organization (WHO) drinking water standards, although the value of water hardness and the concentration of Ca+2 were near the upper limits of the standards, which might cause harm to the human body.


2013 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 57-62
Author(s):  
Suman Man Shrestha ◽  
S. P. Wagley ◽  
S. Parajuli ◽  
U. KC ◽  
A. KC

A study was conducted at 13 different areas of Kathmandu Valley to know the status of arsenic in deep tube wells in post monsoon and winter in 2009 and 2010. The depth of the deep tube wells ranged from 75 m to 304 m. The study was also carried out to know the correlations between depths of the deep tube wells and arsenic concentration. The collected samples were analyzed as per standard method using spectrophotometer. The correlations of arsenic concentration in different season (post monsoon and winter) were also studied. 92.31% of deep tube wells in post monsoon and winter exceeded permissible values of World Health Organization guideline value 0.01 mg/L for drinking water but 38.46% deep tube wells in post monsoon and 46.15% of deep tube wells in winter exceeded permissible values of Nepal Drinking Water Standard of 0.05 mg/L. There was strong positive correlation in arsenic concentration between post monsoon and winter(r=0.94, p<0.001). There was weak but positive correlation between arsenic concentration and depth of deep tube wells in winter ( r=0.23, p=0.451). There was very weak correlations between arsenic concentration and depth of deep tube wells in post monsoon (r=0.055, p=0.859). The trend distribution maps were generated for arsenic in post monsoon and winter.


2010 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 611-630 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heather M. Murphy ◽  
Edward A. McBean ◽  
Khosrow Farahbakhsh

Point-of-use (POU) technologies have been proposed as solutions for meeting the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) for safe water. They reduce the risk of contamination between the water source and the home, by providing treatment at the household level. This study examined two POU technologies commonly used around the world: BioSand and ceramic filters. While the health benefits in terms of diarrhoeal disease reduction have been fairly well documented for both technologies, little research has focused on the ability of these technologies to treat other contaminants that pose health concerns, including the potential for formation of contaminants as a result of POU treatment. These technologies have not been rigorously tested to see if they meet World Health Organization (WHO) drinking water guidelines. A study was developed to evaluate POU BioSand and ceramic filters in terms of microbiological and chemical quality of the treated water. The following parameters were monitored on filters in rural Cambodia over a six-month period: iron, manganese, fluoride, nitrate, nitrite and Escherichia coli. The results revealed that these technologies are not capable of consistently meeting all of the WHO drinking water guidelines for these parameters.


2009 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. van Halem ◽  
S. A. Bakker ◽  
G. L. Amy ◽  
J. C. van Dijk

Abstract. For more than a decade it has been known that shallow tube wells in Bangladesh are frequently contaminated with arsenic concentrations at a level that is harmful to human health. By now it is clear that a disaster of an unheard magnitude is going on: the World Health Organization has estimated that long-term exposure to arsenic in groundwater, at concentrations over 500 μg L−1, causes death in 1 in 10 adults. Other studies show that problems with arsenic in groundwater/drinking water occur in many more countries worldwide, such as in the USA and China. In Europe the focus on arsenic problems is currently confined to countries with high arsenic levels in their groundwater, such as Serbia, Hungary and Italy. In most other European countries, the naturally occurring arsenic concentrations are mostly lower than the European drinking water standard of 10 μg L−1. However, from the literature review presented in this paper, it is concluded that at this level health risks cannot be excluded. As consumers in European countries expect the drinking water to be of impeccable quality, it is recommended that water supply companies optimize arsenic removal to a level of <1 μg L−1, which is technically feasible.


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