Linking environmental and public health data to evaluate health effects of arsenic exposure from domestic and public supply wells

Everyone needs clean drinking water in order to thrive. The US EPA and public water purveyors in the US work together in adherence with the Safe Drinking Water Act to make water safe for public consumption. The recent media coverage of lead in public drinking water supplies in Flint, Michigan, and schools in many cities with aging infrastructure throughout the US has raised public awareness of drinking water as a potential pathway of exposure to toxic chemicals. Epidemiologists and other researchers have conclusively shown that high arsenic levels in drinking water in Bangladesh, Taiwan, and South America cause adverse human health outcomes. However, research in study populations with levels of arsenic exposure relevant to communities in the US is needed to understand the health risks, if any, contributed by drinking water exposures. This proposed research will determine correlative and other statistical associations between arsenic exposure from domestic and public supply wells and human health outcomes using existing databases and related modeling.




Publications:

Machine Learning Models of Arsenic in Private Wells Throughout the Conterminous United States As a Tool for Exposure Assessment in Human Health Studies. Melissa A. Lombard, Molly Scannell Bryan, Daniel K. Jones, Catherine Bulka, Paul M. Bradley, Lorraine C. Backer, Michael J. Focazio, Debra T. Silverman, Patricia Toccalino, Maria Argos, Matthew O. Gribble, and Joseph D. Ayotte. Environmental Science & Technology Article ASAP. DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.0c05239.

Principal Investigator(s):
Maria Argos (University of Illinois at Chicago)
Joseph D Ayotte (New Hampshire/Vermont Water Science Center)
Matthew Gribble (Emory University)
Bernard T Nolan (National Water-Quality Assessment Program)

Participants:
Melissa Lombard (USGS New England Water Science Center)
Patty Toccalino (USGS National Water Quality Program)
Joseph Ayotte (USGS New England Water Science Center)
Mike Focazio (USGS South Atlantic Water Science Center)
Paul M. Bradley (USGS South Atlantic Water Science Center)
Dan Jones (USGS Utah Water Science Center)
Johnni Daniel (Centers for Disease Control)
Lorraine Backer (Centers for Disease Control)
Debra Silverman (National Cancer Institute)
Maria Argos (University of Illinois at Chicago)
Matthew Gribble (Emory University)
Catherine Bulka (University of North Carolina)
Molly Scannell Bryan (University of Illinois at Chicago)
Scott Bartell (University of California, Irvine)
Christopher Weis (National Institutes of Health)
Bernard (Tom) Nolan (USGS National Water Quality Program)
Mary Mortensen (CDC Division of Laboratory Sciences)
Marilyn Ohara Ruiz (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
Anne Nigra (Columbia University)
Veronica Vieira (University of California, Irvine)