Purpose

The water footprint (WF) method is widely applied to quantify water use along the life cycle of products and organizations and to evaluate the resulting impacts on human health. This study analyzes the cause-effect chains for the human health damage related to the water use on a local scale in the Province Punjab of Pakistan, evaluates their consistency with existing WF models, and provides recommendations for future model development.

Method

Locally occurring cause-effect chains are analyzed based on site observations in Punjab and a literature review. Then, existing WF models are compared to the findings in the study area including their comprehensiveness (covered cause-effect chains), relevance (contribution of the modeled cause-effect chain to the total health damage), and representativeness (correspondence with the local cause-effect chain). Finally, recommendations for the development of new characterization models describing the local cause-effect chains are provided.

Results and discussion

The cause-effect chains for the agricultural water deprivation include malnutrition due to reduced food availability and income loss as well as diseases resulting from the use of wastewater for irrigation, out of which only the first one is addressed by existing WF models. The cause-effect chain for the infectious diseases due to domestic water deprivation is associated primarily with the absence of water supply systems, while the linkage to the water consumption of a product system was not identified. The cause-effect chains related to the water pollution include the exposure via agricultural products, fish, and drinking water, all of which are reflected in existing impact assessment models. Including the groundwater compartment may increase the relevance of the model for the study area.

Conclusions

Most cause-effect chains identified on the local scale are consistent with existing WF models. Modeling currently missing cause-effect chains for the impacts related to the income loss and wastewater usage for irrigation can enhance the assessment of the human health damage in water footprinting.

中文翻译：

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评估用水对人类健康的局部影响：巴基斯坦旁遮普省的水足迹模型评估

目的

水足迹（WF）方法被广泛应用于量化产品和组织生命周期中的用水量，并评估由此对人类健康产生的影响。这项研究分析了巴基斯坦旁遮普省地方范围内与用水有关的人类健康损害的因果链，评估了它们与现有WF模型的一致性，并为将来的模型开发提供了建议。

方法

基于旁遮普邦的现场观察和文献综述，分析了本地发生的因果链。然后，将现有的WF模型与研究区域中的发现进行比较，包括其全面性（发现的因果链），相关性（建模的因果链对健康总损害的贡献）和代表性（与当地原因的对应） -效果链）。最后，为开发描述局部因果链的新表征模型提供了建议。

结果与讨论

农业缺水的因果链包括由于粮食供应​​减少和收入损失造成的营养不良以及因使用废水灌溉而引起的疾病，现有的WF模型只解决了第一个问题。由于缺乏生活用水而导致传染病的因果链主要与缺乏供水系统有关，而与产品系统的耗水量之间的联系尚未确定。与水污染有关的因果链包括通过农产品，鱼类和饮用水的暴露，所有这些都反映在现有的影响评估模型中。包括地下水隔室可能会增加模型与研究区域的相关性。

结论

在当地范围内确定的大多数因果链与现有的WF模型一致。对与收入损失和灌溉废水的使用有关的影响，目前缺少的因果链建模可以增强对水足迹对人类健康损害的评估。