Health Risk Assessment of Arsenic in Drinking Water in Mongolia
- VernacularTitle:Монгол орны ундны усны хүнцэл ба хүний эрүүл мэндийн эрсдэлийн үнэлгээ
- Author:
Unurtsetseg Ch
1
;
Erdenechimeg E
2
;
Undram L
1
Author Information
1. School of Public Health, Mongolian National University of Medical Sciences
2. Mongolian Society for Occupational and Environmental Health
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords:
Exposure, cumulative dose, reference value, hazard quotient, cancer risk
- From:
Mongolian Journal of Health Sciences
2025;87(3):184-190
- CountryMongolia
- Language:Mongolian
-
Abstract:
Background:According to the 2023 report on global water sector development,
water consumption has increased by approximately 1%
annually over the past 40 years and is expected to rise further due to
population growth, socio-economic development, and changes in consumption
patterns. Both low- and middle-income countries face risks
related to water quality. In many developing nations in Asia and Africa,
natural water sources are of poor quality and lack purification infrastructure,
with limited research and data available—often restricted to monitoring
reports and basic statistics. Although the United Nations' Sustainable
Development Goals (SDG-2030), adopted at the 70th UN General
Assembly, aim to ensure access to safe drinking water and sanitation
for all, around 26% of the global population—approximately 2 billion
people—still lack access to safely managed drinking water services. In
line with this, Mongolia’s long-term development policy “Vision-2050”
sets a target to ensure 90% of the population has access to safe drinking
water by 2030 through comprehensive measures. The World Health
Organization (WHO) identified ten key chemical contaminants posing
significant public health concerns in 2020, including arsenic, along with
air pollution, asbestos, benzene, cadmium, dioxins, excessive fluoride,
lead, mercury, and hazardous pesticides. Over 140 million people in
more than 70 countries are consuming arsenic-contaminated water,
exceeding the WHO guideline of 10 μg/L. While Mongolia has conducted
studies on arsenic contamination in drinking water in 2004, 2013,
and between 2019–2022, there is still a scarcity of research assessing
the potential health risks associated with such contamination.
Aim:To assess the health risk of arsenic exposure through drinking water.
Materials and Methods:Using a document-based research design,
we obtained official permission from the Health Statistics, Information
and Research Department (Letter No. 01/290) and collected arsenic
testing data and well information from 29 internal research reports. A
database was created, and secondary data analysis was conducted.
Based on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) methodology,
the following were calculated: average daily dose (ADD), lifetime
average daily dose (LADD), cancer risk (CR), and hazard quotient (HQ)
for arsenic exposure through drinking water. Official statistics from 2023
released by international and national organizations such as the UN,
WHO, NSO, MCHD, and NCCD were used for risk calculations.
Results:Out of 3,575 drinking water samples collected from 1,315 wells
in 329 soums across 21 provinces and 2,260 samples from 9 districts
of Ulaanbaatar, 61% met the MNS 0900:2018 national drinking water
standard for safety and quality. However, in samples from Dornogovi,
Dundgovi, Sukhbaatar, Umnugovi provinces and Nalaikh district, arsenic
concentrations exceeded the national and WHO recommended
limit (10 μg/L) by 1 to 6 times. Health risk assessment showed hazard
quotient values ranging between 0.12 and 1.15.
Conclusions:Arsenic
contamination in drinking water is locally prevalent in the Gobi and
Eastern regions of Mongolia (Dundgovi, Sukhbaatar, Dornod, Umnugovi,
Dornogovi). The hazard quotient for arsenic exposure via drinking
water ranges from 0.12 to 1.15, with 8 provinces showing values above
0.3—indicating potential health risks.
- Full text:2025052422013928667184-190.pdf
