Kamyar Arman
1*, Ali Reza Pardakht
1, Noushin Osoleddini
2, Mostafa Leili
31 Environmental Engineering Department, Faculty of Environment, University of Tehran, Tehran, IR Iran
2 Applied Chemistry Department, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Pharmaceutical Sciences Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, IR Iran
3 Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Public Health and Research Center for Health Sciences, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, IR Iran
*Corresponding Author: * Corresponding author: Kamyar Arman, Environmental Engineering Department, Faculty of Environment, University of Tehran, Tehran, IR Iran. Tel: +98-9393431236,, Email:
kamyar.arman@gmail.com
Abstract
Among various trihalomethane (THM) compounds, chloroform is considered to be the main compound and was selected as an indicator
of THMs in this study. This study aims to calculate and assess the lifetime cancer risks resulting from chloroform intakes of
various exposure routes in Ilam’s urban drinking water. The samples were analyzed using a gas chromatograph equipped with a
flame ionization detector (GC/FID). The results showed that average chloroform concentrations in different districts were between
20 and 30.3 µg/L, and the highest concentrations were detected in district 4 with a value of 32.2 µg/L. All water samples contained
concentrations of chloroform below the standards of the world health organization (WHO) and the institute of standards and industrial
research of Iran (ISIRI). Assessment of lifetime cancer risks was carried out using prediction models for different exposure
routes, including ingestion, inhalation, and dermal routes for people living in Ilam city. The highest risk from chloroform seems
to be from the oral ingestion route, followed by inhalation and dermal absorption. The maximum and minimum lifetime cancer
risks were 6.59 × 10 - 6 and 5.95 × 10 - 6 in districts 4 and 3, respectively. It was also concluded that the average lifetime cancer risk
was 6.26 × 10 - 6 in all districts. Based on the population data, the total number of expected lifetime cancer cases from exposure to
chloroform is 1 for Ilam city