Arsenic in US correctional facility drinking water, 2006-2011

Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substance Exposure Risks in US Carceral Facilities, 2022

Objectives. To assess the US incarcerated population's risk of exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs). Methods. We assessed how many of the 6118 US carceral facilities were located in the same hydrologic unit code watershed boundaries as known or likely locations of PFAS contamination. We conducted geospatial analyses on data aggregated from Environmental Protection Agency databases and a PFAS site tracker in 2022 to model the hydrologically feasible known and presumptive PFAS contamination sites for nearly 2 million incarcerated people. Results. Findings indicate that 5% (∼310) of US carceral facilities have at least 1 known source of PFAS contamination in the same watershed boundary and that it is at a higher elevation than the facility; also 47% (∼2285) have at least 1 presumptive source. A minimum of 990 000 people are incarcerated in these facilities, including at least 12 800 juveniles. Exposure risks faced by incarcerated youths are disproportionately underassessed. Conclusions. The long-term impacts from potential exposures to PFAS are preventable and exacerbate health inequities among incarcerated populations. Widespread public attention to PFASs can be parlayed into broader environmental monitoring for imprisoned people. (Am J Public Health. 2024;114(5):501-510. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2024.307571).

Prioritizing water availability study settings to address geogenic contaminants and related societal factors

Water availability for human and ecological uses depends on both water quantity and water quality. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is developing strategies for prioritizing regional-scale and watershed basin-scale studies of water availability across the nation. Previous USGS ranking processes for basin-scale studies incorporated primarily water quantity factors but are now considering additional water quality factors. This study presents a ranking based on the potential impacts of geogenic constituents on water quality and consideration of societal factors related to water quality. High-concentration geogenic constituents, including trace elements and radionuclides, are among the most prevalent contaminants limiting water availability in the USA and globally. Geogenic constituents commonly occur in groundwater because of subsurface water-rock interactions, and their distributions are controlled by complex geochemical processes. Geogenic constituent mobility can also be affected by human activities (e.g., mining, energy production, irrigation, and pumping). Societal factors and relations to drinking water sources and water quality information are often overlooked when evaluating research priorities. Sociodemographic characteristics, data gaps resulting from historical data-collection disparities, and infrastructure condition/age are examples of factors to consider regarding environmental justice. This paper presents approaches for ranking and prioritizing potential basin-scale study areas across the contiguous USA by considering a suite of conventional physical and geochemical variables related to geogenic constituents, with and without considering variables related to societal factors. Simultaneous consideration of societal and conventional factors could provide decision makers with more diverse, interdisciplinary tools to increase equity and reduce bias in prioritizing focused research areas and future water availability studies.

Methods in Public Health Environmental Justice Research: a Scoping Review from 2018 to 2021

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

The volume of public health environmental justice (EJ) research produced by academic institutions increased through 2022. However, the methods used for evaluating EJ in exposure science and epidemiologic studies have not been catalogued. Here, we completed a scoping review of EJ studies published in 19 environmental science and epidemiologic journals from 2018 to 2021 to summarize research types, frameworks, and methods.

RECENT FINDINGS

We identified 402 articles that included populations with health disparities as a part of EJ research question and met other inclusion criteria. Most studies (60%) evaluated EJ questions related to socioeconomic status (SES) or race/ethnicity. EJ studies took place in 69 countries, led by the US (n = 246 [61%]). Only 50% of studies explicitly described a theoretical EJ framework in the background, methods, or discussion and just 10% explicitly stated a framework in all three sections. Among exposure studies, the most common area-level exposure was air pollution (40%), whereas chemicals predominated personal exposure studies (35%). Overall, the most common method used for exposure-only EJ analyses was main effect regression modeling (50%); for epidemiologic studies the most common method was effect modification (58%), where an analysis evaluated a health disparity variable as an effect modifier. Based on the results of this scoping review, current methods in public health EJ studies could be bolstered by integrating expertise from other fields (e.g., sociology), conducting community-based participatory research and intervention studies, and using more rigorous, theory-based, and solution-oriented statistical research methods.

Burden of disease from contaminated drinking water in countries with high access to safely managed water: A systematic review

The vast majority of residents of high-income countries (≥90%) reportedly have high access to safely managed drinking water. Owing perhaps to the widely held perception of near universal access to high-quality water services in these countries, the burden of waterborne disease in these contexts is understudied. This systematic review aimed to: identify population-scale estimates of waterborne disease in countries with high access to safely managed drinking water, compare methods to quantify disease burden, and identify gaps in available burden estimates. We conducted a systematic review of population-scale disease burden estimates attributed to drinking water in countries where ≥90% of the population has access to safely managed drinking water per official United Nations monitoring. We identified 24 studies reporting estimates for disease burden attributable to microbial contaminants. Across these studies, the median burden of gastrointestinal illness risks attributed to drinking water was ∼2,720 annual cases per 100,000 population. Beyond exposure to infectious agents, we identified 10 studies reporting disease burden-predominantly, cancer risks-associated with chemical contaminants. Across these studies, the median excess cancer cases attributable to drinking water was 1.2 annual cancer cases per 100,000 population. These median estimates slightly exceed WHO-recommended normative targets for disease burden attributable to drinking water and these results highlight that there remains important preventable disease burden in these contexts, particularly among marginalized populations. However, the available literature was scant and limited in geographic scope, disease outcomes, range of microbial and chemical contaminants, and inclusion of subpopulations (rural, low-income communities; Indigenous or Aboriginal peoples; and populations marginalized due to discrimination by race, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status) that could most benefit from water infrastructure investments. Studies quantifying drinking water-associated disease burden in countries with reportedly high access to safe drinking water, focusing on specific subpopulations lacking access to safe water supplies and promoting environmental justice, are needed.

Bibliometric analysis of the association between drinking water pollution and bladder cancer

Background

Bladder cancer has become an increasingly intractable health problem worldwide. Long-term drinking water pollution is known to promote its occurrence. This study aimed to analyze the research status, hot spots, and future trends of drinking water pollution and bladder cancer through extensive bibliometric examination to provide reference data for better prevention and management of bladder cancer.

Methods

The Scopus database developed by Elsevier was browsed for articles that met the predefined criteria using the search terms related to drinking water and bladder cancer. Included articles were further evaluated by year of publication, subject category, institution, article type, source journal, authors, co-authorship networks, and text mining of titles by R software packages tm, ggplot2 and VOSviewer software.

Results

In total, 687 articles were selected after a comprehensive literature search by the Scopus database, including 491 research articles, 98 review articles, 26 conference papers, 23 letters and 49 other documents. The total number of articles published showed an upward trend. The United States has the largest number of published articles (345 articles), institutions (7/10) and funding sponsors (top 5). The journal with the most publications was Environmental Health Perspectives, with 46 published. The highest number of citations up to 2330 times for a single article published in 2007 on the journal of Mutation Research. Professor Cantor K.P. was the highest number of publications with 35 articles and Smith A.H. was the most cited author with the number of citations reaching 6987 times overall and 225 times per article. The most frequent keywords excluding the search subject were "arsenic", "chlorination", "trihalomethane", and "disease agents".

Conclusion

This study is the first systematic bibliometric study of the literature publications on drinking water pollution and bladder cancer. It offers an overall and intuitive understanding of this topic in the past few years, and points out a clear direction research hotspots and reveals the trends for further in-depth study in future.

Nationwide geospatial analysis of county racial and ethnic composition and public drinking water arsenic and uranium

There is no safe level of exposure to inorganic arsenic or uranium, yet recent studies identified sociodemographic and regional inequalities in concentrations of these frequently detected contaminants in public water systems across the US. We analyze the county-level association between racial/ethnic composition and public water arsenic and uranium concentrations from 2000-2011 using geospatial models. We find that higher proportions of Hispanic/Latino and American Indian/Alaskan Native residents are associated with significantly higher arsenic and uranium concentrations. These associations differ in magnitude and direction across regions; higher proportions of non-Hispanic Black residents are associated with higher arsenic and uranium in regions where concentrations of these contaminants are high. The findings from this nationwide geospatial analysis identifying racial/ethnic inequalities in arsenic and uranium concentrations in public drinking water across the US can advance environmental justice initiatives by informing regulatory action and financial and technical support to protect communities of color.

Socioeconomic vulnerability and public water arsenic concentrations across the US

Inorganic arsenic is a known human carcinogen and is routinely detected in US community water systems (CWSs). Inequalities in CWS arsenic exist across broad sociodemographic subgroups. Our objective was to evaluate the county-level association between socioeconomic vulnerability and CWS arsenic concentrations across the US. We evaluated previously developed, population-weighted CWS arsenic concentrations (2006-2011) and three socioeconomic domains (the proportion of adults with a high school diploma, median household income, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's overall socioeconomic vulnerability score) for 2,604 conterminous US counties. We used spatial lag models and evaluated the adjusted geometric mean ratio (GMR) of CWS arsenic concentrations per higher socioeconomic domain score corresponding to the interquartile range, and also evaluated flexible quadratic spline models. We also stratified by region and by United States Department of Agriculture Rural-Urban Continuum Codes to assess potential effect measure modification by region and rurality. Associations between socioeconomic vulnerability and CWS arsenic were modified by region and rurality and specific to socioeconomic domain. The fully adjusted GMR (95% CIs) of CWS arsenic per interquartile range higher proportion of adults with a high school education was 0.83 (0.71, 0.98) in the Southwest (corresponding to 17% lower arsenic with higher education), 0.82 (0.71, 0.94) in the Eastern Midwest (18% lower), and 0.65 (0.31, 1.36) in New England (35% lower). Associations between median household income and CWS arsenic were largely null. Higher overall socioeconomic vulnerability was significantly associated with lower CWS arsenic, but only in counties in the Central Midwest and those with total populations less than 20,000. Findings may reflect regional/local differences in both socioeconomic/socio-cultural context and public drinking water regulatory efforts. Across the US, individual domains of socioeconomic vulnerability (especially educational attainment) are more strongly associated with inequalities in CWS arsenic than the complex overall socioeconomic vulnerability index.

Sociodemographic inequalities in uranium and other metals in community water systems across the USA, 2006-11: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) currently sets maximum contaminant levels (MCLs) for ten metals or metalloids in public drinking water systems. Our objective was to estimate metal concentrations in community water systems (CWSs) across the USA, to establish if sociodemographic or regional inequalities in the metal concentrations exist, and to identify patterns of concentrations for these metals as a mixture.

METHODS

We evaluated routine compliance monitoring records for antimony, arsenic, barium, beryllium, cadmium, chromium, mercury, selenium, thallium, and uranium, collected from 2006-11 (2000-11 for uranium; timeframe based on compliance monitoring requirements) by the US EPA in support of their second and third Six-Year Reviews for CWSs. Arsenic, barium, chromium, selenium, and uranium (detectable in >10% records) were included in the main analyses (subgroup and metal mixture analyses; arsenic data reported previously). We compared the mean, 75th percentile, and 95th percentile contaminant concentrations and the percentage of CWSs with concentrations exceeding the MCL across subgroups (region, sociodemographic county-cluster, size of population served, source water type, and CWSs exclusively serving correctional facilities). We evaluated patterns in CWS metal concentration estimate profiles via hierarchical cluster analysis. We created an online interactive map and dashboard of estimated CWS metal concentrations for use in future analyses.

FINDINGS

Average metal concentrations were available for a total of 37 915 CWSs across the USA. The total number of monitoring records available was approximately 297 000 for arsenic, 165 000 for barium, 167 000 for chromium, 165 000 for selenium, and 128 000 for uranium. The percentage of analysed CWSs with average concentrations exceeding the MCL was 2·6% for arsenic (MCL=10 μg/L; nationwide mean 1·77 μg/L; n=36 798 CWSs), 2·1% for uranium (MCL=30 μg/L; nationwide mean 4·37 μg/L; n=14 503 CWSs), and less than 0·1% for the other metals. The number of records with detections was highest for uranium (63·1%). 75th and 95th percentile concentrations for uranium, chromium, barium, and selenium were highest for CWSs serving Semi-Urban, Hispanic communities, CWSs reliant on groundwater, and CWSs in the Central Midwest. Hierarchical cluster analysis revealed two distinct clusters: an arsenic-uranium-selenium cluster and a barium-chromium cluster.

INTERPRETATIONS

Uranium is an under-recognised contaminant in CWSs. Metal concentrations (including uranium) are elevated in CWSs serving Semi-Urban, Hispanic communities independent of location or region, highlighting environmental justice concerns.

FUNDING

US National Institutes of Health Office of the Director, US National Institutes for Environmental Health Sciences, and US National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research.

Occupational and Environmental Hazards of Correctional Settings: A Scoping Literature Review From ACOEM's Presidential Task Force on Correctional Institutions

OBJECTIVE

Maintaining healthful, safe, and productive work environments for workers in correctional settings is a matter of deep consequence to the workers themselves, the institutions they serve, the incarcerated individuals with whom they share space, and inevitably, to our wider community. We hypothesized that an examination of the academic literature would reveal opportunities for an improved approach to research in these settings.

METHODS

We performed a scoping literature review using search terms related to the occupational and environmental health of workers in correctional environments, limited to studies performed in the United States.

RESULTS

A total of 942 studies underwent title and abstract screening, 342 underwent full-text review, and 147 underwent data extraction by a single reviewer. The results revealed a body of literature that tends strongly toward analyses of stress and burnout of correctional staff, largely based on self-reported data from cross-sectional surveys. Those studies related to physical health were predominantly represented by topics of infectious disease. There were few or no studies examining exposures or outcomes related to diagnosable mental health conditions, musculoskeletal injury, environmental hazards, medical or mental health staff, immigration detention settings, or regarding incarcerated workers. There were very few studies that were experimental, longitudinal, or based on objective data.

DISCUSSION

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has promulgated a research strategy for correctional officers that should guide future research for all workers in correctional settings, but realization of these goals will rely upon multidisciplinary collaboration, specific grants to engage researchers, and an improved understanding of the barriers inherent to correctional research, all while maintaining rigorous protection for incarcerated persons as an especially vulnerable population.

Review of adsorption-membrane hybrid systems for water and wastewater treatment

Adsorption is an effective method for the removal of inorganic and organic contaminants and has been commonly used as a pretreatment method to improve contaminant removal and control flux during membrane filtration. Over the last two decades, many researchers have reported the use of hybrid systems comprising various adsorbents and different types of membranes, such as nanofiltration (NF), ultrafiltration (UF), and microfiltration (MF) membranes, to remove contaminants from water. However, a comprehensive evaluation of the removal mechanisms and effects of the operating conditions on the transport of contaminants through hybrid systems comprising various adsorbents and NF, UF, or MF membranes has not been performed to date. Therefore, a systematic review of contaminant removal using adsorption-membrane hybrid systems is critical, because the transport of inorganic and organic contaminants via the hybrid systems is considerably affected by the contaminant properties, water quality parameters, and adsorbent/membrane physicochemical properties. Herein, we provide a comprehensive summary of the most recent studies on adsorption-NF/UF/MF membrane systems using various adsorbents and membranes for contaminant removal from water and wastewater and highlight the future research directions to address the current knowledge gap.

Urinary arsenic and heart disease mortality in NHANES 2003-2014

BACKGROUND

Evidence evaluating the prospective association between low-to moderate-inorganic arsenic (iAs) exposure and cardiovascular disease in the general US population is limited. We evaluated the association between urinary arsenic concentrations in National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2003-2014 and heart disease mortality linked from the National Death Index through 2015.

METHODS

We modeled iAs exposure as urinary total arsenic and dimethylarsinate among participants with low seafood intake, based on low arsenobetaine levels (N = 4990). We estimated multivariable adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) for heart disease mortality per interquartile range (IQR) increase in urinary arsenic levels using survey-weighted, Cox proportional hazards models, and evaluated flexible dose-response analyses using restricted quadratic spline models. We updated a previously published relative risk of coronary heart disease mortality from a dose-response meta-analysis per a doubling of water iAs (e.g., from 10 to 20 μg/L) with our results from NHANES 2003-2014, assuming all iAs exposure came from drinking water.

RESULTS

A total of 77 fatal heart disease events occurred (median follow-up time 75 months). The adjusted HRs (95% CI) of heart disease mortality for an increase in urinary total arsenic and DMA corresponding to the interquartile range were 1.20 (0.83, 1.74) and 1.18 (0.68, 2.05), respectively. Restricted quadratic splines indicate a significant association between increasing urinary total arsenic and the HR of fatal heart disease for all participants at the lowest exposure levels <4.5 μg/L. The updated pooled relative risk of coronary heart disease mortality per doubling of water iAs (μg/L) was 1.16 (95% CI 1.07, 1.25).

CONCLUSIONS

Despite a small number of events, relatively short follow-up time, and high analytical limits of detection for urinary arsenic species, iAs exposure at low-to moderate-levels is consistent with increased heart disease mortality in NHANES 2003-2014 although the associations were only significant in flexible dose-response models.

Inequalities in Public Water Arsenic Concentrations in Counties and Community Water Systems across the United States, 2006-2011

BACKGROUND

In the United States, nationwide estimates of public drinking water arsenic exposure are not readily available. We used the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Six-Year Review contaminant occurrence data set to estimate public water arsenic exposure. We compared community water system (CWS) arsenic concentrations during 2006-2008 vs. after 2009-2011, the initial monitoring period for compliance with the U.S. EPA's 10   μ g / L arsenic maximum contaminant level (MCL).

OBJECTIVE

Our objective was to characterize potential inequalities in CWS arsenic exposure over time and across sociodemographic subgroups.

METHODS

We estimated 3-y average arsenic concentrations for 36,406 CWSs (98%) and 2,740 counties (87%) and compared differences in means and quantiles of water arsenic (via quantile regression) between both 3-y periods for U.S. regions and sociodemographic subgroups. We assigned CWSs and counties MCL compliance categories (High if above the MCL; Low if below) for each 3-y period.

RESULTS

From 2006-2008 to 2009-2011, mean and 95th percentile CWS arsenic (in micrograms per liter) declined by 10.3% (95% CI: 6.5%, 14.1%) and 11.5% (8.3%, 14.8%) nationwide, by 11.4% (4.7%, 18.1%) and 16.3% (8.1%, 24.5%) for the Southwest, and by 36.8% (7.4%, 66.1%) and 26.5% (12.1%, 40.8%) for New England, respectively. CWSs in the High/High compliance category (not MCL compliant) were more likely in the Southwest (61.1%), served by groundwater (94.7%), serving smaller populations (mean 1,102 persons), and serving Hispanic communities (38.3%).

DISCUSSION

Larger absolute declines in CWS arsenic concentrations at higher water arsenic quantiles indicate declines are related to MCL implementation. CWSs reliant on groundwater, serving smaller populations, located in the Southwest, and serving Hispanic communities were more likely to continue exceeding the arsenic MCL, raising environmental justice concerns. These estimates of public drinking water arsenic exposure can enable further surveillance and epidemiologic research, including assessing whether differential declines in water arsenic exposure resulted in differential declines in arsenic-associated disease. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP7313.