Considering Alternate Pathways of Drinking-Water Contamination: Evidence of Risk Substitution from Arsenic Mitigation Programs in Rural Bangladesh
| Autor: | Nurul Alam, Michael Emch, Masnoon Kabir, Sirajul Islam, Taslim Ali, Sumati Sridhar, Varun Goel, Yunus, Victoria Shelus, A. S. G. Faruque, Katerina Brandt, Mark D. Sobsey, Griffin J. Bell, Alfazal Khan, Shahabuddin Babu |
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| Rok vydání: | 2020 |
| Předmět: |
Health
Toxicology and Mutagenesis 030231 tropical medicine Water contamination lcsh:Medicine chemistry.chemical_element 010501 environmental sciences Microbial contamination arsenic mitigation 01 natural sciences Article risk substitution Arsenic 03 medical and health sciences Walking distance 0302 clinical medicine Water Supply Environmental health Humans Groundwater ARSENIC EXPOSURE 0105 earth and related environmental sciences Bangladesh lcsh:R Public Health Environmental and Occupational Health household water storage chemistry drinking water quality Environmental science Water quality Private well Surface water Water Pollutants Chemical Environmental Monitoring |
| Zdroj: | International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, Vol 17, Iss 5372, p 5372 (2020) Volume 17 Issue 15 |
| ISSN: | 1660-4601 |
| DOI: | 10.3390/ijerph17155372 |
| Popis: | Deep tubewells are a key component of arsenic mitigation programs in rural Bangladesh. Compared to widely prevalent shallow tubewells, deep tubewells reduce ground-water arsenic exposure and provide better microbial water quality at source. However, the benefits of clean drinking-water at these more distant sources may be abated by higher levels of microbial contamination at point-of-use. One such potential pathway is the use of contaminated surface water for washing drinking-water storage containers. The aim of this study is to compare the prevalence of surface water use for washing drinking-water storage containers among deep and shallow tubewell users in a cohort of 499 rural residents in Matlab, Bangladesh. We employ a multi-level logistic regression model to measure the effect of tubewell type and ownership status on the odds of washing storage containers with surface water. Results show that deep tubewell users who do not own their drinking-water tubewell, have 6.53 times the odds [95% CI: 3.56, 12.00] of using surface water for cleaning storage containers compared to shallow tubewell users, who own their drinking-water source. Even deep tubewell users who own a private well within walking distance have 2.53 [95% CI: 1.36, 4.71] times the odds of using surface water compared to their shallow tubewell counterparts. These results highlight the need for interventions to limit risk substitution, particularly the increased use of contaminated surface water when access to drinking water is reduced. Increasing ownership of and proximity to deep tubewells, although crucial, is insufficient to achieve equity in safe drinking-water access across rural Bangladesh. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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