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. 2023 Dec 30;21(1):55.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph21010055.

Health Risk Assessment of Nitrate in Drinking Water with Potential Source Identification: A Case Study in Almaty, Kazakhstan

Yerbolat Sailaukhanuly  1   2 , Seitkhan Azat  1 , Makhabbat Kunarbekova  1 , Adylkhan Tovassarov  2 , Kainaubek Toshtay  3 , Zhandos Tauanov  3 , Lars Carlsen  4 , Ronny Berndtsson  5
Affiliations

Health Risk Assessment of Nitrate in Drinking Water with Potential Source Identification: A Case Study in Almaty, Kazakhstan

Yerbolat Sailaukhanuly et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

Infant mortality in Kazakhstan is six times higher compared with the EU. There are several reasons for this, but a partial reason might be that less than 30% of Kazakhstan's population has access to safe water and sanitation and more than 57% uses polluted groundwater from wells that do not comply with international standards. For example, nitrate pollution in surface and groundwater continues to increase due to intensified agriculture and the discharge of untreated wastewater, causing concerns regarding environmental and human health. For this reason, drinking water samples were collected from the water supply distribution network in eight districts of Almaty, Kazakhstan, and water quality constituents, including nitrate, were analyzed. In several districts, the nitrate concentration was above the WHO and Kazakhstan's maximum permissible limits for drinking water. The spatial distribution of high nitrate concentration in drinking water was shown to be strongly correlated with areas that are supplied with groundwater, whereas areas with lower nitrate levels are supplied with surface water sources. Based on source identification, it was shown that groundwater is likely polluted by mainly domestic wastewater. The health risk for infants, children, teenagers, and adults was assessed based on chronic daily intake, and the hazard quotient (HQ) of nitrate intake from drinking water was determined. The non-carcinogenic risks increased in the following manner: adult < teenager < child < infant. For infants and children, the HQ was greater than the acceptable level and higher than that of other age groups, thus pointing to infants and children as the most vulnerable age group due to drinking water intake in the study area. Different water management options are suggested to improve the health situation of the population now drinking nitrate-polluted groundwater.

Keywords: SDGs; drinking water; groundwater; health risk; infant health; nitrate pollution.

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Conflict of interest statement

Author Lars Carlsen owns the company Awareness Center. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Almaty City in Kazakhstan and the experimental study area with sampling locations for the domestic tap water supply.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Spatial distribution of nitrate concentration in drinking water in the study area.
Figure 3
Figure 3
NO3−/Cl− molar ratio variation in drinking water samples as a function of the amount of Cl− ions.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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