ABSTRACT
In recent years, contamination of water resources, with pollutants such as nitrate and nitrite, has significantly increased. These compounds can have harmful effects on human health, especially children such as methemoglobinemia. The main objective of this study was to measure the concentration of nitrate and nitrite and its health-risk assessment in the rivers entering Taham dam in Zanjan. USEPA Method was used to assess the health-risk of nitrate and nitrite. According to the obtained results, the concentration of nitrate and nitrite was in the range of 0.51-14.93â¯mg/l and 0.001-0.061â¯mg/l, respectively. According to the results, the mean of the CDI for nitrate and nitrite was 9.52*10-2 and 3.63*10-4 mg/kg/day, respectively. Furthermore, the mean HI for nitrate and nitrite was 5.97*10-2 and 3.63*10-3, respectively. The concentration of nitrate and nitrite in rivers was lower than the WHO and Iran guidelines. Based on the results, the HI value in all samples was less than 1 which indicating the non-carcinogenic effects of nitrate and nitrite in these rivers.
