RESUMO
In order to clarify the pollution levels of heavy metals in the drinking water sources of the Lijiang River Basin, surface water samples were collected from 62 sites throughout the Lijiang River during May 2019. Heavy metals, including As, Cd, Cr, Mn, Cu, Zn, Hg, Co, and Sb, in the water samples were analysed. Health risk assessments associated with these nine heavy metals were conducted using the health risk assessment model from the US EPA. The results indicated that the order of the average concentrations of heavy metals in the water samples were Mn > Zn > As > Cr > Cu > Sb > Co > Cd > Hg. No heavy metals exceeded the limit values of the drinking water health standards in China (GB 5749-2006), and the concentrations were lower than the limitations of Grade â level in the environmental quality standards for surface water (GB 3838-2002). According to the spatial distribution, the high contents areas of As, Cr, Zn, and Sb were predominantly distributed downstream of the Lijiang River, while the high contents areas of Cd, Cu, Hg, Co, and Mn were mostly distributed in the upper reaches. Multivariate analysis indicated that Cd, Mn, Cu, and Co were primarily from agricultural production; Cr, Zn, and Sb were mainly from tourism transportation; As was predominantly from the weathering of rock parent material and soil erosion; Hg was mainly from the improper disposal of domestic garbage and atmospheric deposition. The results of the health risk assessment indicated that children were more susceptible to the threat of heavy metal pollution than adults, and the average annual risk of carcinogenic heavy metals to human health through drinking water ingestion were higher than those of non-carcinogenic metals. The maximum personal average annual health risk of Cr was higher than the maximum allowance levels recommended by the International Commission on Radiological Protection (5×10-5 a-1). The average annual risk of non-carcinogenic heavy metals (10-14-10-9 a-1) decreased in the order of Co > Cu > Hg > Zn > Sb > Mn, which were far below the maximum allowance levels recommended by the ICRP.