Health Risk Assessment of Heavy Metals in Selected Sachet Water Brands Following Sunlight Exposure in Enugu Metropolis, Enugu State, South-East Nigeria
Keywords:
heavy metals; sachet water; hazard quotient; hazard index; carcinogenic risk; chromium; children; sunlight exposure; EnuguAbstract
Heavy metals in drinking water may pose health concerns when exposure is prolonged, even when individual concentrations remain below regulatory limits. This study evaluated potential adult and child exposure to selected heavy metals in sachet water before and after elevated-temperature/sunlight exposure. Selected sachet-water brands were maintained under control conditions of 22–25°C or exposed to approximately 35–40°C for 7, 14 and 21 days. Zinc, chromium, copper, iron and manganese concentrations were determined by Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry. Average Daily Dose (ADD), Hazard Quotient (HQ), Hazard Index (HI) and chromium-related carcinogenic risk (CR) were estimated separately for adults and children. Children consistently recorded higher estimated ADD and HQ values than adults. For ESW21, adult HI increased from 0.2674 in the unexposed condition to 0.3818 after 21 days, whereas child HI increased from 0.6239 to 0.8913. ESW18 child HI increased from 0.9054 to 1.1527, while ESW1 increased from 0.9290 to 1.2025. ESW15 recorded child HI values above unity throughout the exposure period, ranging from 1.0522 to 1.0958. ESW9 and ESW5 remained below unity throughout the assessed periods. Chromium-related carcinogenic-risk estimates increased with exposure duration for several samples, and child estimates were consistently higher than adult estimates. The results indicate that exposure-related risk was more pronounced among children under the assumptions used. Although baseline heavy-metal concentrations were generally below the applicable regulatory limits, the risk assessment identified scenarios in which cumulative non-carcinogenic hazard exceeded unity for children. The findings emphasize the importance of considering exposure duration, storage conditions and population vulnerability when evaluating packaged drinking-water safety.
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