The studies on polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) occurrence, distribution, health risk, and composition in drinking water are limited in India and worldwide. The main objective of this study was to find the contaminant sources, composition, health risk, and distribution of USEPA’s 16 priority pollutant PAHs in the drinking water samples collected between July 2019 to September 2019 from six districts of Southern Jharkhand. The Σ_16PAHs mean ± standard deviation [SD] concentration values were ordered as East Singhbhum (ES) (21.5 ± 14.8 ng L⁻¹) > West Singhbhum (WS) (16.57 ± 13.21 ng L⁻¹) > Saraikela Kharsawan (SK) (11.48 ± 9.92 ng L⁻¹) > Khunti (KH) (10.32 ± 9.09 ng L⁻¹) > Simdega (SM) (9.96 ± 7.85 ng L⁻¹) > Gumla (GU) (9.41 ± 8.63 ng L⁻¹). The results show that ES and WS districts’ groundwater samples were more contaminated by the PAHs, which may be attributed to the presence of many small-, medium-, and large-scale industries and high vehicular density in these districts. The concentrations of lower molecular weight ring (3-rings) and middle molecular weight ring (4-rings) PAHs were dominant throughout all drinking samples. The concentration of the 3-ring PAH Anthracene and 4-ring PAH Fluoranthene were dominant in all districts. The molecular ratios suggested that the potential sources of PAHs are fuel combustion and coal, grass, and wood burning. Risk assessment shows that the incremental lifetime cancer risk and risk index (RI) were ranged from 0.02 × 10⁻¹⁰ to 4.93 × 10⁻¹⁰ for children and 0.01 × 10⁻¹⁰ to 2.98 × 10⁻¹⁰ for adults. The RI values for seven carcinogenic PAHs were 8.83 × 10⁻¹⁰ for children and 7.38 × 10⁻¹⁰ for adults. Although the carcinogenic risks were within the permissible values, chronic exposure to PAHs through the ingestion of drinking water could still be a human health concern.

在印度和世界范围内，对饮用水中多环芳烃（PAHs）的发生，分布，健康风险和组成的研究非常有限。这项研究的主要目的是在2019年7月至2019年9月期间从南贾坎德邦六个地区收集的饮用水样本中，找出USEPA的16种优先污染物PAHs的污染物来源，成分，健康风险和分布。所述Σ _16PAHs平均值±标准差[SD]浓度值排序为东Singhbhum（ES）（21.5±14.8纳克大号^-1）>西Singhbhum（WS）（16.57±13.21毫微克大号^-1）>塞赖凯拉卡尔萨万（SK） （11.48±9.92 ng L ^-1）> Khunti（KH）（10.32±9.09 ng L ^-1）> Simdega（SM）（9.96±7.85 ng L^-1）>胶（GU）（9.41±8.63 ng L ^-1）。结果表明，ES和WS地区的地下水样品受到PAHs的污染更大，这可能归因于这些地区存在许多中小型和大型工业以及较高的车辆密度。在所有饮用样品中，低分子量环（3环）和中分子量环（4环）PAH的浓度占主导。在所有地区，三环PAH蒽和四环PAH荧蒽的浓度均占主导。分子比表明，多环芳烃的潜在来源是燃料燃烧以及煤，草和木材燃烧。风险评估表明，终生癌症风险和风险指数（RI）的增量范围为0.02×10 ^-10到4.93×10 ^-10为儿童和0.01×10 ^-10到2.98×10 ^-10为成人。七种致癌物质多环芳烃RI值分别为8.83×10 ^-10为儿童和7.38×10 ^-10成人。尽管致癌风险在允许的范围内，但通过摄入饮用水长期接触多环芳烃仍可能是人类健康的问题。