Assessing Cadmium and Chromium Concentrations in Drinking Water to Predict Health Risk in Malaysia

Abstract

Although toxic Cd (cadmium) and Cr (chromium) in the aquatic environment are mainly from natural sources, human activities have increased their concentrations. Several studies have reported higher concentrations of Cd and Cr in the aquatic environment of Malaysia; however, the association between metal ingestion via drinking water and human health risk has not been established. This study collected water samples from four stages of the drinking water supply chain at Langat River Basin, Malaysia in 2015 to analyze the samples by inductivity coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Mean concentrations of Cd and Cr and the time-series river data (2004–2014) of these metals were significantly within the safe limit of drinking water quality standard proposed by the Ministry of Health Malaysia and the World Health Organization. Hazard quotient (HQ) and lifetime cancer risk (LCR) values of Cd and Cr in 2015 and 2020 also indicate no significant human health risk of its ingestion via drinking water. Additionally, management of pollution sources in the Langat Basin from 2004 to 2015 decreased Cr concentration in 2020 on the basis of autoregression moving average. Although Cd and Cr concentrations were found to be within the safe limits at Langat Basin, high concentrations of these metals have been found in household tap water, especially due to the contamination in the water distribution pipeline. Therefore, a two-layer water filtration system should be introduced in the basin to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2030 agenda of a better and more sustainable future for all, especially via SDG 6 of supplying safe drinking water at the household level.

Investigating the Status of Cadmium, Chromium and Lead in the Drinking Water Supply Chain to Ensure Drinking Water Quality in Malaysia

“…The raw samples were also filtered using 0.45 µm glass fibre filter paper (Whatman) to analyse the dissolved part. The Chelex ® 100 resin (i.e., 50-100 mesh) column ion-exchange method was applied to analyse the three replicates of the 500 mL water samples for Cd, Cr and Pb analysis [2,[52][53][54].…”

Predicting Arsenic (As) Exposure on Human Health for Better Management of Drinking Water Sources

“…Tanah Curam (Steepland), Rengan-Jerangan (urban land), and Tanah Gambut (peat soils) are the main soil types in the hilly upstream, flat midstream, and downstream, respectively. The average annual rainfall at the Langat River Basin is about 2483.62 ± 269.70 mm ranging from 2043.68 mm to 2832.40 mm during 2005-2016 [24,31,37].…”

“…Although the upstream water quality of the Langat River was clean, the physico-chemical parameters including several metals in so many cases had crossed the national water quality index at mid to downstream. Additionally, the upstream of Langat River also recorded a high concentration of several metals such as aluminium, arsenic, cadmium, chromium, lead, etc., mainly from natural sources [6,[24][25][26][27]. Therefore, several water treatment plants (WTPs) such as Sg.…”

“…Therefore, the leadership roles of local governments to enforce the laws effectively via the functional multi-stakeholders' platform is very important to reduce the pollution in the river both from point and non-point sources [24,31,32]. Ahmed et al [26] have also emphasized the capacity-building of relevant stakeholders via awareness-raising, advocacy, and appropriate training using the multi-stakeholder platforms for decision making in the river basin management, including reducing pollution in line with the integrated water resources management (IWRM).…”

Gender Difference in the Associations among Heavy Metals with Red Blood Cell Hemogram

“…The detrimental effects of industrial waste have been investigated, including changes in immune function and metabolism disturbances leading to comorbidities [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]. Animal studies pointed out the effects of heavy metals on hemogram parameters [ 4 ].…”