Coproduced Science Linking Environmental and Public-Health Data to Evaluate Drinking Water Arsenic Exposure on Birth Outcomes
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists teamed up with public-health epidemiologists to probe for associations between arsenic in drinking water and human-birth outcomes. They reported a modest inverse relation between birth weight and arsenic exposure. Findings indicate that future research efforts using individual-level exposure data such as measured arsenic concentrations in tap water could improve modelling outcomes.
Arsenic occurs naturally in the Earth’s crust and can move into groundwater sources used for drinking water in forms and at levels unsafe for human consumption. Groundwater is a major source of drinking water for many community water systems and private wells in the United States.
Drinking water can be a primary source of arsenic in many people’s diets, and ingestion of arsenic is associated with adverse human-health outcomes including cancer, impaired child development, and adverse birth outcomes.
All public water systems in the United States are required to monitor arsenic levels, but private wells—which are used by 14 percent of people in the country—are unregulated. As a result, there are limited comprehensive data on the extent of arsenic exposure from private wells and associated health risks in the United States.
Given the potential for adverse health outcomes from arsenic exposure and the lack of arsenic concentration data for private wells across the Nation, hydrologists and geologists from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) collaborated with public-health epidemiologists (National Cancer Institute, University of Illinois at Chicago, University of North Carolina, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Emory University) to study the connections between arsenic and human-health outcomes using existing environmental and public-health data.
USGS scientists developed national-scale estimates of arsenic in well water as surrogates for arsenic exposure for more than 3,000 counties. Building on these modeled arsenic concentrations in well water, the epidemiologists used the USGS model results and an existing dataset for more than 3 million births across the conterminous United States to evaluate the relation between modeled arsenic probabilities in private wells and two key birth outcomes tracked by public-health departments: gestational age and birth weight.
The scientists reported no association between increased probability of elevated arsenic concentrations in private well water and gestational age at birth. However, the epidemiology models predicted a modest inverse relation with birth weight among infants born at term, particularly among male infants. For example, there was lower term birth weight (2.8 grams) associated with the probability of private well arsenic concentration exceeding 10 micrograms per liter.
Although this is the largest study on the effect of arsenic exposure on birth outcomes in the United States to date, findings indicate future research may be enhanced using individual level exposure data, such as measured arsenic concentrations at the point of use (tap water).
The research was supported by the USGS John Wesley Powell Center for Analysis and Synthesis working group, the USGS National Water Quality Assessment Project, and the USGS Environmental Health Program’s Drinking and Wastewater Infrastructure Team.
Mapping and Characterizing the Arsenic Hazard in Private Well Water Across the Nation
Elevated Bladder Cancer in Northern New England—Drinking Water and Arsenic
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists teamed up with public-health epidemiologists to probe for associations between arsenic in drinking water and human-birth outcomes. They reported a modest inverse relation between birth weight and arsenic exposure. Findings indicate that future research efforts using individual-level exposure data such as measured arsenic concentrations in tap water could improve modelling outcomes.
Arsenic occurs naturally in the Earth’s crust and can move into groundwater sources used for drinking water in forms and at levels unsafe for human consumption. Groundwater is a major source of drinking water for many community water systems and private wells in the United States.
Drinking water can be a primary source of arsenic in many people’s diets, and ingestion of arsenic is associated with adverse human-health outcomes including cancer, impaired child development, and adverse birth outcomes.
All public water systems in the United States are required to monitor arsenic levels, but private wells—which are used by 14 percent of people in the country—are unregulated. As a result, there are limited comprehensive data on the extent of arsenic exposure from private wells and associated health risks in the United States.
Given the potential for adverse health outcomes from arsenic exposure and the lack of arsenic concentration data for private wells across the Nation, hydrologists and geologists from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) collaborated with public-health epidemiologists (National Cancer Institute, University of Illinois at Chicago, University of North Carolina, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Emory University) to study the connections between arsenic and human-health outcomes using existing environmental and public-health data.
USGS scientists developed national-scale estimates of arsenic in well water as surrogates for arsenic exposure for more than 3,000 counties. Building on these modeled arsenic concentrations in well water, the epidemiologists used the USGS model results and an existing dataset for more than 3 million births across the conterminous United States to evaluate the relation between modeled arsenic probabilities in private wells and two key birth outcomes tracked by public-health departments: gestational age and birth weight.
The scientists reported no association between increased probability of elevated arsenic concentrations in private well water and gestational age at birth. However, the epidemiology models predicted a modest inverse relation with birth weight among infants born at term, particularly among male infants. For example, there was lower term birth weight (2.8 grams) associated with the probability of private well arsenic concentration exceeding 10 micrograms per liter.
Although this is the largest study on the effect of arsenic exposure on birth outcomes in the United States to date, findings indicate future research may be enhanced using individual level exposure data, such as measured arsenic concentrations at the point of use (tap water).
The research was supported by the USGS John Wesley Powell Center for Analysis and Synthesis working group, the USGS National Water Quality Assessment Project, and the USGS Environmental Health Program’s Drinking and Wastewater Infrastructure Team.