Short report, 22.03.2016, Action A4 “Linking of environmental and health indicators”
Abstract
This work aims to evaluate the impact of chemical composition of groundwater/drinking on health status of inhabitants in the Slovak Republic. Primary data consist of the Slovak national database of groundwater analyses (20,339 chemical analyses, 34 chemical elements/compounds) and data on health status and demographic growth of Slovak population expressed in the form of health indicators (HI). 14 HI were evaluated including life expectancy at birth, potential years of lost life, relative and standardized mortality for the most common causes of deaths in the Slovak Republic: cardiovascular and oncological diseases, diseases of gastrointestinal and respiratory system. The chemical and health data were unified in the same form and expressed as the mean values for each of 2,883 municipalities within the Slovak Republic for further analysis. Pearson and Spearman correlation as well as method of artificial neural network (ANN) was used as mathematic method for environmental and health data analysis. Based on the results of calculations through ANN, the most significant chemical elements having influence on evaluated HI were identified together with their limit values. The following chemical elements/parameters in the groundwater were defined as the most significant: Ca+Mg (mmol l-1), Ca, Mg, TDS, HCO3 and SO4. The most significant relationship between HI and chemical composition of groundwater was documented for Ca+Mg (mmol.l-1), Ca and Mg. The following limit values were set for these most significant groundwater chemicals/parameters: Ca+Mg 2.9 – 6,1 mmol.l-1, Ca 78 – 155 mg l-1 a Mg 28 – 54 mg l-1. At these concentration ranges the health status of Slovak population is the most favourable and the life expectancy is the highest. These limit values are about twice higher in comparison with the current Slovak valid guideline values for the drinking water.
Fulltext: A4_short report_proposal of limit
