Dataset Information

Increased childhood mortality and arsenic in drinking water in Matlab, Bangladesh: a population-based cohort study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Arsenic in drinking water was associated with increased risk of all-cause, cancer, and cardiovascular death in adults. However, the extent to which exposure is related to all-cause and deaths from cancer and cardiovascular condition in young age is unknown. Therefore, we prospectively assessed whether long-term and recent arsenic exposures are associated with all-cause and cancer and cardiovascular mortalities in Bangladeshi childhood population.

Methods and findings

We assembled a cohort of 58406 children aged 5-18 years from the Health and Demographic Surveillance System of icddrb in Bangladesh and followed during 2003-2010. There were 185 non-accidental deaths registered in-about 0.4 million person-years of observation. We calculated hazard ratios for cause-specific death in relation to exposure at baseline (µg/L), time-weighted lifetime average (µg/L) and cumulative concentration (µg-years/L). After adjusting covariates, hazard ratios (HRs) for all-cause childhood deaths comparing lifetime average exposure 10-50.0, 50.1-150.0, 150.1-300.0 and ?300.1µg/L were 1.37 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.74-2.57), 1.44 (95% CI, 0.88-2.38), 1.22 (95% CI, 0.75-1.98) and 1.88 (95% CI, 1.14-3.10) respectively. Significant increased risk was also observed for baseline (P for trend?=?0.023) and cumulative exposure categories (P for trend?=?0.036). Girls had higher mortality risk compared to boys (HR for girls 1.79, 1.21, 1.64, 2.31; HR for boys 0.52, 0.53, 1.14, 0.99) in relation to baseline exposure. For all cancers and cardiovascular deaths combined, multivariable adjusted HRs amounted to 1.53 (95% CI 0.51-4.57); 1.29 (95% CI 0.43-3.87); 2.18 (95%CI 1.15-4.16) for 10.0-50.0, 50.1-150.0, and ?150.1, comparing lowest exposure as reference (P for trend?=?0.009). Adolescents had higher mortality risk compared to children (HRs?=?1.53, 95% CI 1.03-2.28 vs. HRs?=?1.30, 95% CI 0.78-2.17).

Conclusions

Arsenic exposure was associated with substantial increased risk of deaths at young age from all-cause, and cancers and cardiovascular conditions. Girls and adolescents (12-18 years) had higher risk compared to boys and child.

SUBMITTER: Rahman M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3557245 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Increased childhood mortality and arsenic in drinking water in Matlab, Bangladesh: a population-based cohort study.

Rahman Mahfuzar M Sohel Nazmul N Yunus Mohammad M Chowdhury Mahbub Elahi ME Hore Samar Kumar SK Zaman Khalequ K Bhuiya Abbas A Streatfield Peter Kim PK

PloS one 20130128 1

<h4>Background</h4>Arsenic in drinking water was associated with increased risk of all-cause, cancer, and cardiovascular death in adults. However, the extent to which exposure is related to all-cause and deaths from cancer and cardiovascular condition in young age is unknown. Therefore, we prospectively assessed whether long-term and recent arsenic exposures are associated with all-cause and cancer and cardiovascular mortalities in Bangladeshi childhood population.<h4>Methods and findings</h4>We ...[more]

PMID: 23383038

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Project description:ObjectiveTo evaluate the association between arsenic exposure and mortality from cardiovascular disease and to assess whether cigarette smoking influences the association.DesignProspective cohort study with arsenic exposure measured in drinking water from wells and urine.SettingGeneral population in Araihazar, Bangladesh.Participants11,746 men and women who provided urine samples in 2000 and were followed up for an average of 6.6 years.Main outcome measureDeath from cardiovascular disease.Results198 people died from diseases of circulatory system, accounting for 43% of total mortality in the population. The mortality rate for cardiovascular disease was 214.3 per 100,000 person years in people drinking water containing <12.0 µg/L arsenic, compared with 271.1 per 100,000 person years in people drinking water with ≥ 12.0 µg/L arsenic. There was a dose-response relation between exposure to arsenic in well water assessed at baseline and mortality from ischaemic heart disease and other heart disease; the hazard ratios in increasing quarters of arsenic concentration in well water (0.1-12.0, 12.1-62.0, 62.1-148.0, and 148.1-864.0 µg/L) were 1.00 (reference), 1.22 (0.65 to 2.32), 1.35 (0.71 to 2.57), and 1.92 (1.07 to 3.43) (P = 0.0019 for trend), respectively, after adjustment for potential confounders including age, sex, smoking status, educational attainment, body mass index (BMI), and changes in urinary arsenic concentration since baseline. Similar associations were observed when baseline total urinary arsenic was used as the exposure variable and for mortality from ischaemic heart disease specifically. The data indicate a significant synergistic interaction between arsenic exposure and cigarette smoking in mortality from ischaemic heart disease and other heart disease. In particular, the hazard ratio for the joint effect of a moderate level of arsenic exposure (middle third of well arsenic concentration 25.3-114.0 µg/L, mean 63.5 µg/L) and cigarette smoking on mortality from heart disease was greater than the sum of the hazard ratios associated with their individual effect (relative excess risk for interaction 1.56, 0.05 to 3.14; P = 0.010).ConclusionsExposure to arsenic in drinking water is adversely associated with mortality from heart disease, especially among smokers.

Project description:Arsenic contamination of drinking water is a serious public health threat. In Bangladesh, eight major safe water options provide an alternative to contaminated shallow tubewells: piped water supply, deep tubewells, pond sand filters, community arsenic-removal, household arsenic removal, dug wells, well-sharing, and rainwater harvesting. However, it is uncertain how well these options are accepted and used by the at-risk population. Based on the RANAS model (risk, attitudes, norms, ability, and self-regulation) this study aimed to identify the acceptance and use of available safe water options. Cross-sectional face-to-face interviews were used to survey 1,268 households in Bangladesh in November 2009 (n = 872), and December 2010 (n = 396). The questionnaire assessed water consumption, acceptance factors from the RANAS model, and socioeconomic factors. Although all respondents had access to at least one arsenic-safe drinking water option, only 62.1% of participants were currently using these alternatives. The most regularly used options were household arsenic removal filters (92.9%) and piped water supply (85.6%). However, the former result may be positively biased due to high refusal rates of household filter owners. The least used option was household rainwater harvesting (36.6%). Those who reported not using an arsenic-safe source differed in terms of numerous acceptance factors from those who reported using arsenic-safe sources: non-users were characterized by greater vulnerability; showed less preference for the taste and temperature of alternative sources; found collecting safe water quite time-consuming; had lower levels of social norms, self-efficacy, and coping planning; and demonstrated lower levels of commitment to collecting safe water. Acceptance was particularly high for piped water supplies and deep tubewells, whereas dug wells and well-sharing were the least accepted sources. Intervention strategies were derived from the results in order to increase the acceptance and use of each arsenic-safe water option.

Project description:BackgroundArsenic, a common groundwater pollutant, is associated with adverse reproductive health but few studies have examined its effect on maternal health.MethodsA prospective cohort was recruited in Bangladesh from 2008-2011 (N?=?1,458). At enrollment (<16 weeks gestational age [WGA]), arsenic was measured in personal drinking water using inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Questionnaires collected health data at enrollment, at 28 WGA, and within one month of delivery. Adjusted odds ratios (aORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) for self-reported health symptoms were estimated for each arsenic quartile using logistic regression.ResultsOverall, the mean concentration of arsenic was 38 ?g/L (Standard deviation, 92.7 ?g/L). A total of 795 women reported one or more of the following symptoms during pregnancy (cold/flu/infection, nausea/vomiting, abdominal cramping, headache, vaginal bleeding, or swollen ankles). Compared to participants exposed to the lowest quartile of arsenic (?0.9 ?g/L), the aOR for reporting any symptom during pregnancy was 0.62 (95% CI?=?0.44-0.88) in the second quartile, 1.83 (95% CI?=?1.25-2.69) in the third quartile, and 2.11 (95% CI?=?1.42-3.13) in the fourth quartile where the mean arsenic concentration in each quartile was 1.5 ?g/L, 12.0 ?g/L and 144.7 ?g/L, respectively. Upon examining individual symptoms, only nausea/vomiting and abdominal cramping showed consistent associations with arsenic exposure. The odds of self-reported nausea/vomiting was 0.98 (95% CI: 0.68, 1.41), 1.52 (95% CI: 1.05, 2.18), and 1.81 (95% CI: 1.26, 2.60) in the second, third and fourth quartile of arsenic relative to the lowest quartile after adjusting for age, body mass index, second-hand tobacco smoke exposure, educational status, parity, anemia, ferritin, medication usage, type of sanitation at home, and household income. A positive trend was also observed for abdominal cramping (P for trend <0.0001). A marginal negative association was observed between arsenic quartiles and odds of self-reported cold/flu/infection (P for trend?=?0.08). No association was observed between arsenic and self-reported headache (P for trend?=?0.19).ConclusionModerate exposure to arsenic contaminated drinking water early in pregnancy was associated with increased odds of experiencing nausea/vomiting and abdominal cramping. Preventing exposure to arsenic contaminated drinking water during pregnancy could improve maternal health.

Dataset Information

Increased childhood mortality and arsenic in drinking water in Matlab, Bangladesh: a population-based cohort study.

Background

Methods and findings

Conclusions

Publications

Increased childhood mortality and arsenic in drinking water in Matlab, Bangladesh: a population-based cohort study.

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