Assessment of risk to human health due to intake of chromium in the groundwater of the Aosta Valley region, Italy

The aim of this study is to assess the risk to human health presented by total chromium (CrT) and hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) due to the intake of the groundwater (shallow aquifer) in the Aosta Valley region. One hundred and fifty-three groundwater samples were collected from seventeen locations in the Aosta Valley region during the years 2007–2015 to determine the CrT and Cr(VI) concentrations. The cancer risk (CR) and non-cancer risk, reflected by the hazard quotient (HQ) were estimated using the United States Environmental Protection Agency methods. The concentrations of CrT exceeded the limit for drinking water established by Italian legislative decree at the sampling location Ao23 in all the years studied. Moreover, Cr(VI) concentrations exceeded the limit for drinking water at many sampling locations in the study area. The estimated HQ values for non-cancer risk suggested that all the sampling locations were well within the safe zone during all the years except for location Ao23 in many years considered. The CR levels were very low to high risk in the groundwater of the study area. The results of this analysis suggest that a suitable treatment of the groundwater is required before its utilization for drinking purposes. This study could be of great value for the prevention of risk to human health and for groundwater resource management.