Semi-volatile organic compounds in tap water from Hangzhou, China: Influence of pipe material and implication for human exposure

Investigations on environmental behaviors of SVOCs have recently received great attention. However, the SVOC occurrence and influence of pipe materials on SVOC levels in the tap water have received little attention. Herein, we collected tap water samples from 25 households constructed at different ages in Hangzhou, China. Concentrations of 61 SVOCs, including phthalate esters (PAEs), organochlorine pesticides (OCPs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), were simultaneously determined in these collected samples. The potential human exposure risks were evaluated via the hazard index calculation. Our results showed that the total concentration of detected SVOCs (∑SVOCs) ranged from 110 to 289 μg/L (mean, 179 μg/L), and the SVOCs were dominated by PAHs (mean, 116 ng/L) and PAEs (mean, 55 ng/L) in Hangzhou tap water. 12 PCB congeners were detected in Hangzhou tap water samples, with hepta-CBs (68% of samples) as the most frequently detected PCBs. Nearly all tap water samples contained measurable o, p’-DDE, p, p’-DDT, and p, p’-DDD, and ∑DDTs had significantly (p < 0.05) higher concentrations than ∑HCHs. All target PAHs had high detection frequencies (>72%) in tap water samples, with their mean concentrations in the range of 2.1–41 ng/L. Tap water from steel pipes had relatively lower SVOC concentrations than that from either reinforced concrete, gray cast iron, or ductile iron pipes. Although no carcinogenic risks originating from exposure to SVOCs through ingestion and bathing were observed, the tap water from steel pipes showed relatively low exposure risks than that from other materials. Data provided here, for the first, are helpful in understanding the influence of pipe materials on human SVOC exposure risks through tap water intake.