Predicting risk and loss of disability-adjusted life years (DALY) from selected disinfection byproducts in multiple water supply sources in Saudi Arabia

Abstract Disinfection byproducts (DBPs) in drinking water is an issue in many countries. Many DBPs are possible or probable human carcinogens while few DBPs pose cyto- and genotoxic effects to the mammalian cells. The populations are likely to consume DBPs with drinking water throughout their lifetimes. A number of DBPs are regulated in many countries to protect humans. In this study, human exposure, risk and disability-adjusted life years (DALY) were predicted from DBPs in multiple water supply systems, including groundwater (GW), desalinated water (DW) and blend water (BW). The averages of lifetime excess cancer risks from GW, DW and BW were 4.15 × 10−6, 1.75 × 10−5 and 2.59 × 10−5 respectively. The populations in age groups of 0 - 16 years contributed 25.4–25.7%, 28.6–29.6% and 45.0–45.7% to the total risks respectively. The DALY from GW, DW and BW were estimated to be 5.8, 27.0 and 39.9 years, respectively while the corresponding financial burdens were US$ 0.63, 2.93 and 4.34 million respectively. The findings are likely to assist in selecting the supply water sources to better control human exposure and risk from DBPs.