IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v16y2023i1p222-d1307927.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Human Health Risk Assessment of Heavy Metals and Nitrates Associated with Oral and Dermal Groundwater Exposure: The Poirino Plateau Case Study (NW Italy)

Author

Listed:
  • Daniele Cocca

    (Earth Sciences Department, University of Turin, Via Valperga Caluso 35, 10125 Turin, Italy)

  • Manuela Lasagna

    (Earth Sciences Department, University of Turin, Via Valperga Caluso 35, 10125 Turin, Italy)

  • Enrico Destefanis

    (Earth Sciences Department, University of Turin, Via Valperga Caluso 35, 10125 Turin, Italy)

  • Chiara Bottasso

    (Earth Sciences Department, University of Turin, Via Valperga Caluso 35, 10125 Turin, Italy)

  • Domenico Antonio De Luca

    (Earth Sciences Department, University of Turin, Via Valperga Caluso 35, 10125 Turin, Italy)

Abstract

The Poirino Plateau (northwestern Italy) presents high contamination of the shallow aquifer due to intense agricultural practices and industrial activities. Many inhabitants have exploited shallow wells for personal purposes, coming into contact with contaminants. The aims of this study were to characterize groundwater contamination by heavy metals and nitrates, assess the noncarcinogenic and carcinogenic health risks for oral and dermal exposure in different receptor groups (children, adults, workers) and compare the noncarcinogenic and carcinogenic risk results with the regulatory limits and, therefore, if the actual regulatory limits are able to detect all potential situations of risk. For this purpose, 18 monitoring wells were collected in July 2022, and chemical–physical parameters and heavy metals were detected. The chemical data confirm a relevant anthropogenic contamination by nitrate and heavy metals. The estimated health risks are much higher in children, for oral exposure rather than dermal exposure for all the substances. The comparison between the results of the human health risk assessment and those in respect of threshold values confirms the existence of a transition condition. This condition, with concentrations below regulatory limits and above the noncarcinogenic or carcinogenic limits, reveals that the regulatory limits are not able to identify all the potential risk situations for the population.

Suggested Citation

  • Daniele Cocca & Manuela Lasagna & Enrico Destefanis & Chiara Bottasso & Domenico Antonio De Luca, 2023. "Human Health Risk Assessment of Heavy Metals and Nitrates Associated with Oral and Dermal Groundwater Exposure: The Poirino Plateau Case Study (NW Italy)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(1), pages 1-19, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2023:i:1:p:222-:d:1307927
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/1/222/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/1/222/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Wujuan Mi & Minghua Zhang & Yuan Li & Xiaoxuan Jing & Wei Pan & Xin Xing & Chen Xiao & Qiusheng He & Yonghong Bi, 2023. "Spatio-Temporal Pattern of Groundwater Nitrate-Nitrogen and Its Potential Human Health Risk in a Severe Water Shortage Region," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(19), pages 1-12, September.
    2. Qiang Liu & Yan Cheng & Chunnan Fan, 2023. "Pollution Characteristics and Health Exposure Risks of Heavy Metals in River Water Affected by Human Activities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-14, May.
    3. Maria Triassi & Pellegrino Cerino & Paolo Montuori & Antonio Pizzolante & Ugo Trama & Federico Nicodemo & Jacopo Luigi D’Auria & Sabato De Vita & Elvira De Rosa & Antonio Limone, 2023. "Heavy Metals in Groundwater of Southern Italy: Occurrence and Potential Adverse Effects on the Environment and Human Health," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(3), pages 1-17, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.

      Corrections

      All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2023:i:1:p:222-:d:1307927. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

      If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

      If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

      If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

      For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

      Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

      IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.