Applying Health Risk Analysis to Assess the Chemical Quality of Water for Recreational Bathing: The Case of Tres Arroyos Creek, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Abstract

The aim of the study is to assess the probabilistic non-cancer and cancer risks by recreational bathing in Tres Arroyos creeks (southeastern Buenos Aires Province, Argentina). In these waters, hazardous substances (heavy metals, pesticides) have been detected, possibly related to agricultural activities. To assess such risk, USEPA models in aggregated (exposure through accidental oral water intake and dermal contact simultaneously) and cumulative approaches (combined exposure to more than one substance) were applied, performed for bathers of 5, 10, 15, and 20 years old. The results show that chronic bathing in these waters is not harmful at the concentrations and the exposure scenarios considered. Arsenic was the riskiest substance for both non-cancer and cancer effects, affecting mainly the youngest age group, and the accidental water intake during bathing was the most relevant pathway of exposure. On the other hand, the study highlights the key role of the frequency and duration of the bath event. We discuss the results in light of a previous paper of our authorship concluding that the health risk assessment is a valid alternative to analyze recreational water quality, which, unfortunately, is unused by water management agencies in Argentina.

Environmental Risk of Pesticides: Applying the DelAzulPestRisk Model to Freshwaters of an Agricultural Area of Argentina

“…No pesticide substance would produce health effects in the Tres Arroyos human population, not even considering cancer or non-cancer effects, which had already been evidenced by Peluso et al (2012a). The original DelAzulPestRisk application tested the environmental risk generated by pesticides in Azul County freshwaters, obtaining the same outcome.…”

“…Because many of the creeks' areas are used as bath resorts during summer, the water quality is frequently analyzed by monitoring for the presence of heavy metals and pesticides. Since hazardous substances have been detected in these waters, their health risk for recreational bathing has been estimated (Peluso et al 2012a). However, this analysis by itself, did not allow a full evaluation of the water quality in a broad sense since others negative environmental effects were not considered (e.g., biota toxicity, persistency, bioconcentration, mobility).…”

“…The complete group of pesticides was larger, but excluded those for which concentrations never exceeded the analytic detection limit. A more detailed description of the field methods for the pesticide survey of Tres Arroyos waters is available in Peluso et al (2012a).…”