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Bottled and Well Water Quality in a Small Central Appalachian Community: Household-Level Analysis of Enteric Pathogens, Inorganic Chemicals, and Health Outcomes in Rural Southwest Virginia

Consumption of unsafe drinking water is associated with a substantial burden of disease globally. In the US, ~1.8 million people in rural areas lack reliable access to safe drinking water. Our objective was to characterize and assess household-level water sources, water quality, and associated healt...

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Autores principales: Cohen, Alasdair, Rasheduzzaman, Md, Darling, Amanda, Krometis, Leigh-Anne, Edwards, Marc, Brown, Teresa, Ahmed, Tahmina, Wettstone, Erin, Pholwat, Suporn, Taniuchi, Mami, Rogawski McQuade, Elizabeth T.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9319903/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35886462
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19148610
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author Cohen, Alasdair
Rasheduzzaman, Md
Darling, Amanda
Krometis, Leigh-Anne
Edwards, Marc
Brown, Teresa
Ahmed, Tahmina
Wettstone, Erin
Pholwat, Suporn
Taniuchi, Mami
Rogawski McQuade, Elizabeth T.
author_facet Cohen, Alasdair
Rasheduzzaman, Md
Darling, Amanda
Krometis, Leigh-Anne
Edwards, Marc
Brown, Teresa
Ahmed, Tahmina
Wettstone, Erin
Pholwat, Suporn
Taniuchi, Mami
Rogawski McQuade, Elizabeth T.
author_sort Cohen, Alasdair
collection PubMed
description Consumption of unsafe drinking water is associated with a substantial burden of disease globally. In the US, ~1.8 million people in rural areas lack reliable access to safe drinking water. Our objective was to characterize and assess household-level water sources, water quality, and associated health outcomes in Central Appalachia. We collected survey data and water samples (tap, source, and bottled water) from consenting households in a small rural community without utility-supplied water in southwest Virginia. Water samples were analyzed for physicochemical parameters, total coliforms, E. coli, nitrate, sulfate, metals (e.g., arsenic, cadmium, lead), and 30+ enteric pathogens. Among the 69% (n = 9) of households that participated, all had piped well water, though 67% (n = 6) used bottled water as their primary drinking water source. Total coliforms were detected in water samples from 44.4% (n = 4) of homes, E. coli in one home, and enteric pathogens (Aeromonas, Campylobacter, Enterobacter) in 33% (n = 3) of homes. Tap water samples from 11% (n = 1) of homes exceeded the EPA MCL for nitrate, and 33% (n = 3) exceeded the EPA SMCL for iron. Among the 19 individuals residing in study households, reported diarrhea was 25% more likely in homes with measured E. coli and/or specific pathogens (risk ratio = 1.25, cluster-robust standard error = 1.64, p = 0.865). Although our sample size was small, our findings suggest that a considerable number of lower-income residents without utility-supplied water in rural areas of southwest Virginia may be exposed to microbiological and/or chemical contaminants in their water, and many, if not most, rely on bottled water as their primary source of drinking water.
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spelling pubmed-93199032022-07-27 Bottled and Well Water Quality in a Small Central Appalachian Community: Household-Level Analysis of Enteric Pathogens, Inorganic Chemicals, and Health Outcomes in Rural Southwest Virginia Cohen, Alasdair Rasheduzzaman, Md Darling, Amanda Krometis, Leigh-Anne Edwards, Marc Brown, Teresa Ahmed, Tahmina Wettstone, Erin Pholwat, Suporn Taniuchi, Mami Rogawski McQuade, Elizabeth T. Int J Environ Res Public Health Article Consumption of unsafe drinking water is associated with a substantial burden of disease globally. In the US, ~1.8 million people in rural areas lack reliable access to safe drinking water. Our objective was to characterize and assess household-level water sources, water quality, and associated health outcomes in Central Appalachia. We collected survey data and water samples (tap, source, and bottled water) from consenting households in a small rural community without utility-supplied water in southwest Virginia. Water samples were analyzed for physicochemical parameters, total coliforms, E. coli, nitrate, sulfate, metals (e.g., arsenic, cadmium, lead), and 30+ enteric pathogens. Among the 69% (n = 9) of households that participated, all had piped well water, though 67% (n = 6) used bottled water as their primary drinking water source. Total coliforms were detected in water samples from 44.4% (n = 4) of homes, E. coli in one home, and enteric pathogens (Aeromonas, Campylobacter, Enterobacter) in 33% (n = 3) of homes. Tap water samples from 11% (n = 1) of homes exceeded the EPA MCL for nitrate, and 33% (n = 3) exceeded the EPA SMCL for iron. Among the 19 individuals residing in study households, reported diarrhea was 25% more likely in homes with measured E. coli and/or specific pathogens (risk ratio = 1.25, cluster-robust standard error = 1.64, p = 0.865). Although our sample size was small, our findings suggest that a considerable number of lower-income residents without utility-supplied water in rural areas of southwest Virginia may be exposed to microbiological and/or chemical contaminants in their water, and many, if not most, rely on bottled water as their primary source of drinking water. MDPI 2022-07-15 /pmc/articles/PMC9319903/ /pubmed/35886462 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19148610 Text en © 2022 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Cohen, Alasdair
Rasheduzzaman, Md
Darling, Amanda
Krometis, Leigh-Anne
Edwards, Marc
Brown, Teresa
Ahmed, Tahmina
Wettstone, Erin
Pholwat, Suporn
Taniuchi, Mami
Rogawski McQuade, Elizabeth T.
Bottled and Well Water Quality in a Small Central Appalachian Community: Household-Level Analysis of Enteric Pathogens, Inorganic Chemicals, and Health Outcomes in Rural Southwest Virginia
title Bottled and Well Water Quality in a Small Central Appalachian Community: Household-Level Analysis of Enteric Pathogens, Inorganic Chemicals, and Health Outcomes in Rural Southwest Virginia
title_full Bottled and Well Water Quality in a Small Central Appalachian Community: Household-Level Analysis of Enteric Pathogens, Inorganic Chemicals, and Health Outcomes in Rural Southwest Virginia
title_fullStr Bottled and Well Water Quality in a Small Central Appalachian Community: Household-Level Analysis of Enteric Pathogens, Inorganic Chemicals, and Health Outcomes in Rural Southwest Virginia
title_full_unstemmed Bottled and Well Water Quality in a Small Central Appalachian Community: Household-Level Analysis of Enteric Pathogens, Inorganic Chemicals, and Health Outcomes in Rural Southwest Virginia
title_short Bottled and Well Water Quality in a Small Central Appalachian Community: Household-Level Analysis of Enteric Pathogens, Inorganic Chemicals, and Health Outcomes in Rural Southwest Virginia
title_sort bottled and well water quality in a small central appalachian community: household-level analysis of enteric pathogens, inorganic chemicals, and health outcomes in rural southwest virginia
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9319903/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35886462
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19148610
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