Investigation and Health Risk Assessment of Heavy Metal in Direct Drinking Water in Primary and Secondary Schools in Taicang

Gong Yijing; Wu Jin

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1001-568X.2025.10.0015

Abstract：OBJECTIVE To study the safety of drinking water with different filtration methods and to evaluate the risk of harmful elements in drinking water.METHODS Arsenic,cadmium,lead,manganese,copper and fluorine in 123 water samples from 41 primary and secondary schools in Taicang were detected.Water quality was evaluated based on The Standards for Drinking Water Quality(GB 5749-2022).The health risk assessment of arsenic,cadmium,lead,manganese,copper and fluorine in water treated by different methods was carried out according to The Technical Guide for Environmental Health Risk Assessment ofChemical Exposure(WS/T 777-2021).RESULTS The sum of carcinogenic risks in tap water,boiling tap water,ultrafiltration,nanofiltration and reverse osmosis water samples were 9.19×10-7,9.83×10-7,8.32×10-7,6.83×10-8 and 6.83×10-8,respectively.The sum of non-carcinogenic risks were 0.113 953,0.121 808,0.109 692,0.022 371 and 0.022 930,respectively,which were all under the acceptable level.CONCLUSION Concentrations of Arsenic,cadmium,lead,manganese,copper and fluorine in direct drinking water and tap water were not found to be significantly elevated as compared to the Standards for Drinking Water Quality in primary and secondary schools of Taicang.The health risks of the five indexes in water with different treatment methods were all within the acceptable risk range.Under the premise of ensuring the safety of drinking water,it is recommended that schools use ultrafiltration direct drinking water equipment to retain the beneficial elements in the drinking water.