Journal des effets et du contrôle de la pollution
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Assessment of Potential Risks from Trihalomethanes in Water Supply at Alexandria Governorate

Ali M Abdullah

Chlorination is used in the worldwide to produce drinking water in the most developing world. Frequently lack of proper sanitation and pollution control increases the organic content in water sources thereby increasing the potential of trihalomethanes (THMs) formation. This paper evaluated the lifetime cancer risk and the hazard index caused by THMs contained in drinking water from four areas of Alexandria Governorate, northern of Egypt. Oral exposure and the health risk were estimated using a probabilistic approach. This was done by monitoring the free residual chlorine and the THMs content in drinking water and by obtaining the actual population characteristics. Population characteristics considered, among other variables, the water intake rate, the body weight and the exposure time, and were expressed as empirical frequency distribution curves. Results showed that the 95th percentile of the carcinogenic risk estimated for bromodichloromethane (BDCM) and dibromochloromethane (DBCM) were above the acceptable level of one in a million (10-6) even though in 26% of the cases tap water did not meet the minimum free residual chlorine content required by the Egyptian drinking water standard (0.35 mg/l). Until proper sanitation is implemented and water is managed integrally (in quantity and quality), the Egyptian government need to consider alternate disinfection systems otherwise may be review integrally its water supply policy in these areas.