In order to reveal the pollution characteristics and risk levels of DBPs in typical drinking water sources in Wuhan under the COVID-19 pandemic, 26 sampling sites were selected in typical drinking water sources in Wuhan. N,N-diethyl-1,4-phenylenediamine spectrophotometry and gas chromatograph-micro-cell electron capture detector (GC-μECD) methods were used to detect residual chlorine disinfectants and DBPs in water, respectively, and their health and ecology risks were assessed. The results showed that free chlorine or total residual chlorine were detected in 16 of the 26 water samples, and the maximum concentration was 0.04 mg·L-1, which exceeded the limit of the surface water standard in China. The concentration of residual chlorine was higher in sampling sites near the outfall of a municipal sewage plant. There were 34 types of DBPs measured in 10 sampling sites, and 24 types of substances were detected with the detection rate of 10.00%-100.00%. The ρ (total DBPs) was in the range of 0.11-104.73 μg·L-1, with an average value of 7.26 μg·L-1. The concentration of chloroform was the highest among all the DBPs, ranging from 9.98 μg·L-1 to 11.15 μg·L-1, with an average value of 10.47 μg·L-1. The concentration of 2-bromo-2-iodoacetamide was the lowest, ranging from ND-0.11 μg·L-1, with an average value of 0.01 μg·L-1. The overall detection level of the DBPs area was low in this study area, and the result of the health risk assessment showed that the DBPs had no carcinogenic or non-carcinogenic health risks to human body. However, the results of the ecological risk assessment showed that chloroform presented a high ecological risk to aquatic organisms.
Keywords: COVID-19; Wuhan; disinfection by-products (DBPs); risk assessment; typical drinking water sources.