Abstract: Based on the water quality monitoring data of of a village in Guiyang, covering 13 hazardous pollutants, including Cr⁶⁺, As and Cd, tentative environmental health risk assessment was carried out of the water body at the water head site of the region, using the USEPA health risk assessment model. Results show that the health risk of the villagers exposed to the carcinogenic substance in the water body through drinking water was rated in the range from 10^-7 to 10^-4. Cr⁶⁺ was the major contributor to the risk, varying in the range of 7.2×10^-5~3.7×10^-4 a^-1, all significantly higher than the maximum acceptable levels specified by ICRP and USEPA as 5.0×10^-5 a^-1 and 1.0×10^-6 a^-1, respectively. The non-carcinogenic risks of the water body through drinking water ranged from 10^-11 to 10^-8, much lower than the maximum levels specified by ICRP and USEPA. The risk caused by the carcinogens in the drinking water was about 1 000 times as high as that of the non-carcinogens, contributing 99.9% of the total risk. So that, the issue of Cr⁶⁺ in the drinking water should arouse the attention of relevant departments, and deserves the first priority for management.