Monitoring and Risk Assessment of Disinfection By-products Found in Chlorinated Drinking Water in Korea

,; ,; ,; ,; ,; ,; ,

Research article

Journal of the Korean Society for Environmental Analysis 2010;13(1):11-20.

국내 먹는물 중 염소소독부산물 모니터링 및 위해성 평가

황선혜¹, 권운용¹, 김현구², 김태승², 김승기¹, 최종호³, 표희수¹

¹한국과학기술연구원
²국립환경과학원
³고려대학교

Abstract

Many disinfection by-products were produced during the chlorination of drinking water. By the law, disinfection by-products should be maintained at low level due to their potential toxicity. In this study, we conducted the monitoring of 34 treated water samples collected from water treatment facilities in Han river, Keum river, Nakdong river and Youngsan river from year 2000 to 2008 to quantify disinfection by-products (DBPs)such as trihalomethanes (THMs). Analytical results of total DBPs in four Korean rivers showed that Nakdong river's detection frequency accounted for 72.06% of the total number and its average concentration was 2.54ng/mL. Regarding seasonal variations, winter detection frequency was 66.91% and average concentration was 2.49 ng/mL in Summer. Lastly, the human risk assessment was performed. Dichlorobromomethane (DCBM)total excess cancer risk (ECR) was chloroform (CF) total hazard quotient (HQ) of Nakdong river was 9.71×10-6 and 1.05×10-1, respectively. The result of human risk assessment on DBPs for the past nine years showed the dirinking water safe because it was less than the WHO's guideline.

Key Words: Chlorination, Disinfection by-products, Monitoring, Risk Assessment