Health risk and source assessment of semi-volatile phenols, p-chloroaniline and plasticizers in plastic packaged (sachet) drinking water.

Joseph Kweku Adjei, Albert Ofori, Harry Kwaku Megbenu, Thomas Ahenguah, Alex Kissi Boateng, George Alimoh Adjei, John Kwesi Bentum, David Kofi Essumang

The Science of the total environment 2021 Nov 25

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The presence of U.S. EPA priority organic contaminants in drinking water poses a dire health risk on consumers. Packaged drinking water such as plastic sachet drinking water has significantly gained market in both developed and developing countries, especially, its dominance in the Ghanaian market. The treatment process, packaging, and storage of the sachet drinking water contribute to the levels of genotoxic semi-volatile phenols, p-chloroaniline, and plasticizers contamination in the drinking water. The study thus sought to investigate the levels of semi-volatile phenols, p-chloroaniline, and plasticizer contaminants in sachet drinking water on the Ghanaian market and the associated health risk of exposure. The study also investigated the possible sources of the contaminants. A total of thirty (30) different brands of sachet water on the Ghanaian market were studied. The samples were extracted in replicates (n = 3) using Solid Phase Extraction (SPE) cartridges and further analysed with GC-MS (SIM mode). The source apportionment was conducted using absolute principal component analysis coupled with multiple, linear regression (APCA-MLR) and automatic linear regression (APCA-MALR) modelling. The mean total levels for the phenols, p-chloroaniline, and plasticizers were between 210.2 and 18,914.9, 11.2 and 18,871.0, and 21.2 and 69,834.1 ng/L respectively. The cumulative non-cancer risk (hazard quotient) and cancer risk upon exposure were computed to range between 2.1 × 10-3 and 1.2 and 1.5 × 10-7 and 1.3 × 10-4 respectively. About 37% of the samples had elevated cancer risk (>10-6) which may contribute to the existing incidence, cause for concern. The five sources found for the contaminants were apportioned as "environmental background (major)", "water treatment/disinfectant", "plastic/plasticizers", "storage and preservation", and "residual inter-conversion/degradation sources". Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Citation

Joseph Kweku Adjei, Albert Ofori, Harry Kwaku Megbenu, Thomas Ahenguah, Alex Kissi Boateng, George Alimoh Adjei, John Kwesi Bentum, David Kofi Essumang. Health risk and source assessment of semi-volatile phenols, p-chloroaniline and plasticizers in plastic packaged (sachet) drinking water. The Science of the total environment. 2021 Nov 25;797:149008