Community Engaged Cumulative Risk Assessment of Exposure to Inorganic Well Water Contaminants, Crow Reservation, Montana.

Autor:	Eggers MJ; Center for Biofilm Engineering, Montana State University, P.O. Box 173980, Bozeman, MT 59717, USA. mari.eggers@montana.edu.; Crow Environmental Health Steering Committee, Little Big Horn College, Crow Agency, MT 59022, USA. mari.eggers@montana.edu., Doyle JT; Crow Environmental Health Steering Committee, Little Big Horn College, Crow Agency, MT 59022, USA. doylej@lbhc.edu.; Crow Water Quality Project, P.O. Box 370, Little Big Horn College, Crow Agency, MT 59022, USA. doylej@lbhc.edu., Lefthand MJ; Crow Environmental Health Steering Committee, Little Big Horn College, Crow Agency, MT 59022, USA. myrajlefthand@gmail.com., Young SL; Crow Environmental Health Steering Committee, Little Big Horn College, Crow Agency, MT 59022, USA. saralyoung@hotmail.com., Moore-Nall AL; Department of Earth Sciences, Montana State University, P.O. Box 173480, Bozeman, MT 59717, USA. amoorenall@yahoo.com., Kindness L; Crow Environmental Health Steering Committee, Little Big Horn College, Crow Agency, MT 59022, USA. kindnesslarry@yahoo.com., Medicine RO; Crow Environmental Health Steering Committee, Little Big Horn College, Crow Agency, MT 59022, USA. roberta.othermedicine@ihs.gov.; Environmental Health Department, Crow/Northern Cheyenne Indian Health Service Hospital,Crow Agency, MT 59022, USA. roberta.othermedicine@ihs.gov., Ford TE; School of Public Health and Health Sciences, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 715 N. Pleasant Street,Amherst, MA 01003, USA. teford@umass.edu., Dietrich E; Center for Biofilm Engineering, Montana State University, P.O. Box 173980, Bozeman, MT 59717, USA. eric.dietrich@gmail.com., Parker AE; Center for Biofilm Engineering, Montana State University, P.O. Box 173980, Bozeman, MT 59717, USA. parker@math.montana.edu.; Department of Mathematical Sciences, Montana State University, P.O. Box 173980,Bozeman, MT 59717, USA. parker@math.montana.edu., Hoover JH; Health Sciences Center, MSC09 5360, 1 University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA. JoHoover@salud.unm.edu., Camper AK; Center for Biofilm Engineering, Montana State University, P.O. Box 173980, Bozeman, MT 59717, USA. acamper@montana.edu.; Crow Environmental Health Steering Committee, Little Big Horn College, Crow Agency, MT 59022, USA. acamper@montana.edu.; College of Engineering, Montana State University, P.O. Box 173980, Bozeman, MT 59717, USA. acamper@montana.edu.
Jazyk:	angličtina
Zdroj:	International journal of environmental research and public health [Int J Environ Res Public Health] 2018 Jan 05; Vol. 15 (1). Date of Electronic Publication: 2018 Jan 05.
DOI:	10.3390/ijerph15010076
Abstrakt:	An estimated 11 million people in the US have home wells with unsafe levels of hazardous metals and nitrate. The national scope of the health risk from consuming this water has not been assessed as home wells are largely unregulated and data on well water treatment and consumption are lacking. Here, we assessed health risks from consumption of contaminated well water on the Crow Reservation by conducting a community-engaged, cumulative risk assessment. Well water testing, surveys and interviews were used to collect data on contaminant concentrations, water treatment methods, well water consumption, and well and septic system protection and maintenance practices. Additive Hazard Index calculations show that the water in more than 39% of wells is unsafe due to uranium, manganese, nitrate, zinc and/or arsenic. Most families' financial resources are limited, and 95% of participants do not employ water treatment technologies. Despite widespread high total dissolved solids, poor taste and odor, 80% of families consume their well water. Lack of environmental health literacy about well water safety, pre-existing health conditions and limited environmental enforcement also contribute to vulnerability. Ensuring access to safe drinking water and providing accompanying education are urgent public health priorities for Crow and other rural US families with low environmental health literacy and limited financial resources. Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest. The founding sponsors had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, and in the decision to publish the results.
Databáze:	MEDLINE
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