Genetic toxicity and health risk of riverside groundwater in Wuchang City

Genetic toxicity of water collected from river and riverside groundwater in Wuchang City was tested by SOS/Umu assay. Health risk and seasonal distribution of water were also analyzed. Genotoxic substances were found in river-water and riverside groundwater, concentrations of genotoxic substances in river water were found to be higher than in riverside groundwater, suggesting that river bank filtration being effective to remove genotoxic substances from river. There moval rate was found to be up to 99.6%. Health risk assessments showed that both river water and riverside groundwater had carcinogenic risk with the highest risk level at 5.53×10-6. In addition, genotoxic substances showed features of seasonal distribution in river water and riverside groundwater. Carcinogenic risk during the melting ice period was found to be higher than other periods, indicating that temperature and water quantity influenced the concentration of genotoxic substance in river and riverside groundwater. The present study helps provide basic data for improving sources safety of drinking-water and for optimizing drinking water treatment technology.