Occurrence and Source of Nitrosamines and Secondary Amines in Groundwater and its Adjacent Jialu River Basin, China

Abstract

The presence of mutagenic and carcinogenic nitrosamines in groundwater is of great concern. In this study, eight nitrosamines including N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA), N-nitrosodiethylamine (NDEA), N-nitrosomethylethylamine (NMEA), N-nitrosopyrrolidine (NPYR), N-nitrosomorpholine (NMOR), N-nitrosopiperidine (NPIP), N-nitrosodi-n-propylamine (NDPA), and N-nitrosodi-n-butylamine (NDBA) and corresponding secondary amines were investigated in shallow groundwater, river water, and wastewater samples collected from the Jialu River basin. The total concentrations of nitrosamines and secondary amines in groundwater were ND-101.1 ng/L and 0.36-4.38 μg/L, respectively. NDMA and its secondary amine DMA (44.7%/40.1%) were the predominant compounds in groundwater, followed by NDEA/DEA (21.7%/29.3%) and NDBA/DBA (26.4%/27.4%). Relatively high concentrations of these six compounds were also observed in river water that was influenced by the direct discharge of industrial and domestic wastewater. Using acesulfame as a quantitative population marker, the contribution of domestic sources to the concentrations of nitrosamines and secondary amines was 39-85% in downstream reaches of the Jialu River, and that of industrial sources was estimated to be 65-98% in other sites of the area. Both on-site leakage of domestic and industrial wastewater and leaching from river water would contribute to the occurrence of target pollutants in groundwater. The target pollutants posed a cancer risk of 4.12 × 10(-5) to the local populations due to the direct usage of groundwater as potable water.

Occurrence and profiling of multiple nitrosamines in source water and drinking water of China

“…According to a previous study (Ma et al, 2012), we also estimated the cancer risk (R i ) due to the ingestion of drinking water containing NDMA, NDEA, and NDBA as quantified using Eq. (1).…”

“…) in the Jialu River basin, where there has been an increasing incidence of digestive system cancer among local residents (Ma et al, 2012). Although there are different treatment processes in DWTPs, the removal rate of the total median cancer risk from source water to drinking water was only 30.1%; further, the total maximum cancer risk from source water to drinking water increased, and the increasing rate was 24.8%.…”

“…The concentrations of NDEA have been reported in only several countries and regions, in drinking water (3.7-12.9 ng/L) (Jurado-Sanchez et al, 2010;Planas et al, 2008) and domestic wastewater (0.132 μg/L) (Hartmetz and Slemrova, 1980). Although other nitrosamines including NMEA, NDPA, NMor, NPip, NPyr, NDBA, and N-nitrosodiphenylamine (NDPhA) have been investigated in several drinking water treatment plants (DWTPs) (Wang et al, 2011) and a digestive system cancer region (Ma et al, 2012), due to the lack of a detailed national survey, information regarding the occurrence and concentration levels of multiple nitrosamines in different treatment types of DWTPs across major watersheds in China is still very limited. On the other hand, several studies have investigated the effects of different disinfection processes on nitrosamine formation.…”

Concentrations of arsenic and other elements in groundwater of Bangladesh and West Bengal, India: Potential cancer risk

“…Considered the potential cancer risk to using groundwater as drinking water in the objective area, the cancer probability for As is calculated as per the equation below (Ma et al, 2012).…”

Occurrence and ecological potential of pharmaceuticals and personal care products in groundwater and reservoirs in the vicinity of municipal landfills in China

“…The presence of some antibiotics has also been reported in groundwater in North China due to soil manure applications (Hu et al, 2010). Ma et al (2012) detected eight nitrosamines in shallow groundwater in the Jialu River basin, China. It has been reported that subtherapeutic levels of sulfamethoxazole likely change composition of nitrate-reducing microcosms in groundwater and subsequently inhibit nitrate reduction capabilities (Underwood et al, 2011;Haack et al, 2012).…”