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Water, Health, and Environmental Justice in California: Geospatial Analysis of Nitrate Contamination and Thyroid Cancer.

ABSTRACT: Environmental health hazards are known to disproportionately burden marginalized communities. Agriculture, wastewater, and industrial waste contaminate surface and groundwater, used for drinking, with nitrates. High nitrate concentrations in drinking water have been linked to methemoglobinemia and, recently, thyroid cancer. With a large proportion of the nation's agriculture grown in California, thyroid cancer linked to nitrate water contamination is of concern. This research entailed geographic and statistical analysis of water, nitrate, health, and disadvantaged communities (DACs) in California. DACs are Californian defined areas that experience a combination of hardships from socioeconomic, health, and environmental fields. Our analysis of the California Cancer Registry and California Water Board's well data shows statistically significant correlation (p < 0.05) between nitrate contamination (wells >5 and 10 ppm NO₃-N per square mile and percentage of total wells) and thyroid cancer incidence. DACs had twice the rate of thyroid cancer compared with non-DACs, and higher numbers of nitrate-contaminated wells and hot spots compared with the state averages. Almost half (47%) of the Central Valley's area contained DACs and 27% of wells >10 ppm NO₃-N contaminants. Our study provides a method for other states and countries to conduct preliminary geospatial analysis between water contamination and health with open data. Maps and analysis from this research can inform the public, advocacy groups, and policy leaders of health-related concerns in relation to nitrate water contamination and environmental justice in California. DACs should be provided cost-effective drinking water monitoring and treatment, and governments should incentivize nitrate loading reductions in agriculture, industry, and wastewater. Future research is recommended with more localized, private health data on thyroid cancer incidence.

SUBMITTER: Tariqi AQ

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8165459 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:BACKGROUND:Low-income and minority communities often face disproportionately high pollutant exposures. The lead crisis in Flint, Michigan, has sparked concern about broader socioeconomic disparities in exposures to drinking water contaminants. Nitrate is commonly found in drinking water, especially in agricultural regions, and epidemiological evidence suggests elevated risk of cancer and birth defects at levels below U.S. EPA's drinking water standard (10?mg/L NO3-N). However, there have been no nationwide assessments of socioeconomic disparities in exposures to nitrate or other contaminants in U.S. drinking water. The goals of this study are to identify determinants of nitrate concentrations in U.S. community water systems (CWSs) and to evaluate disparities related to wealth or race/ethnicity. METHODS:We compiled nitrate data from 39,466?U.S. CWSs for 2010-2014. We used EPA's Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS) to compile CWS characteristics and linked this information with both city- and county-level demographic data gathered from the U.S. Census Bureau. After applying multiple imputation methods to address censored nitrate concentration data, we conducted mixed-effects multivariable regression analyses at national and regional scales. RESULTS:5.6 million Americans are served by a CWS that had an average nitrate concentration???5?mg/L NO3-N between 2010 and 2014. Extent of agricultural land use and reliance on groundwater sources were significantly associated with nitrate. The percent of Hispanic residents served by each system was significantly associated with nitrate even after accounting for county-level cropland and livestock production, and CWSs in the top quartile of percent Hispanic residents exceeded 5?mg/L nearly three times as often as CWSs serving the lowest quartile. By contrast, the percent of residents living in poverty and percent African American residents were both inversely associated with nitrate. CONCLUSIONS:Epidemiological evidence for health effects associated with drinking water above 5?mg/L NO3-N raises concerns about increased risk for the 5.6 million Americans served by public water supplies with average nitrate concentrations above this level. The associations we observed between nitrate concentrations and proportions of Hispanic residents support the need for improved efforts to assist vulnerable communities in addressing contamination and protecting source waters. Future studies can extend our methods to evaluate disparities in exposures to other contaminants and links to health effects.

Project description:An Environmental Justice (EJ) analysis was carried out using full Chemical Transport Models (CTMs) over Los Angeles, California, to determine how the combination of domain size and spatial resolution affects predicted air pollution disparities in present day and future simulations when data support from measurements is not available. One set of simulations used the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model coupled with Chemistry (WRF/Chem) with spatial resolution ranging from 250 m to 36 km, comparable to census tract sizes, over domains ranging in size from 320 km2 to 10,000 km2. A second set of simulations used the UCD/CIT CTM with spatial resolution ranging from 4 km to 24 km over domains ranging in size from 98,000 km2 to 1,000,000 km2. Overall WRF/Chem model accuracy improved approximately 9% as spatial resolution increased from 4 km to 250 m in present-day simulations, with similar results expected for future simulations. Exposure disparity results are consistent with previous findings: the average Non-Hispanic White person in the study domain experiences PM2.5 mass concentrations 6–14% lower than the average resident, while the average Black and African American person experiences PM2.5 mass concentrations that are 3–22% higher than the average resident. Predicted exposure disparities were a function of the model configuration. Increasing the spatial resolution finer than approximately 1 km produced diminishing returns because the increased spatial resolution came at the expense of reduced domain size in order to maintain reasonable computational burden. Increasing domain size to capture regional trends, such as wealthier populations living in coastal areas, identified larger exposure disparities but the benefits were limited. CTM configurations that use spatial resolution/domain size of 1 km/103 km2 and 4 km/104 km2 over Los Angeles can detect a 0.5 μg m−3 exposure difference with statistical power greater than 90%. These configurations represent a balanced approach between statistical power, sensitivity across socio-economic groups, and computational burden when predicting current and future air pollution exposure disparities in Los Angeles. Air quality; Environmental disparity; PM2.5; Chemical transport model.

Project description:IntroductionPolycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are complex environmental toxicants. Exposure to them has been linked to adverse health outcomes including cancer, as well as diseases of the skin, liver, and immune system. Based on an ongoing community engagement partnership with stakeholder groups and residents, we conducted a small longitudinal study to assess domestic exposure to PAHs among residents of Manchester, an environmental justice neighborhood located in the East End of Houston, TX.MethodsIn December, 2016, we used fiber wipes to collect samples of household dust from 25 homes in Manchester. Following Hurricane Harvey, in September 2017, we revisited 24 of the 25 homes to collect soil samples from the front yards of the same homes. Wipes and soil were analyzed for the presence of PAHs using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) methods. Principal component analysis plots, heatmaps, and PAH ratios were used to compare pre- and post-Hurricane Harvey samples.ResultsWhile direct comparison is not possible, we present three methods for comparing PAHs found in pre-hurricane fiber wipes and post-hurricane soil samples. The methods demonstrate that the PAHs found before and after Hurricane Harvey are likely from similar sources and that those sources are most likely to be associated with combustion. We also found evidence of redistribution of PAHs due to extreme flooding associated with Hurricane Harvey.DiscussionResidents of the Manchester neighborhood of Houston, TX, are exposed to a range of PAHs in household dust and outdoor soil. While it was not possible to compare directly, we were able to use several methods to assess detected concentrations, changes in site-specific PAH allocations, and PAH origination. Additional research is needed to identify specific sources of domestic PAH exposure in these communities and continued work involving community members and policy makers should aim to develop interventions to reduce domestic exposure to and prevent negative health outcomes from PAHs.

Project description:Syphilis and congenital syphilis (CS) are increasing in California (CA). From 2015 through 2019, for example, CA cases of early syphilis among reproductive-age females (15-44) and CS each increased by >200%. Certain populations-including people experiencing homelessness, using drugs, and/or belonging to certain racial/ethnic groups-have been disproportionately impacted. We hypothesized that geospatial social determinants of health (SDH) contribute to such health inequities. To demonstrate this, we geospatially described syphilis in CA using the Healthy Places Index (HPI). The HPI is a composite index that assigns a score to each CA census tract based on eight socioeconomic characteristics associated with health (education, housing, transportation, neighborhood conditions, clean environment, and healthcare access as well as economic and social resources). We divided CA census tracts into four quartiles based on HPI scores (with the lowest quartile having the least healthy socioeconomic and environmental conditions), then used 2013-2020 CA sexually transmitted diseases surveillance data to compare overall syphilis (among adults and adolescents) and CS case counts, incidence rates (per 100,000 population or live births), and incidence rate ratios (IRRs) among these quartiles. From 2013 to 2020, across all stages of syphilis and CS, disease burden was greatest in the lowest HPI quartile and smallest in the highest quartile (8308 cases (representing 33.2% of all incidents) versus 3768 (15.1%) for primary and secondary (P&S) syphilis; 5724 (31.6%) versus 2936 (16.2%) for early non-primary non-secondary (NPNS) syphilis; 11,736 (41.9%) versus 3026 (10.8%) for late/unknown duration syphilis; and 849 (61.9%) versus 57 (4.2%) for CS; all with p < 0.001). Using the highest HPI quartile as a reference, the IRRs in the lowest quartile were 17 for CS, 4.5 for late/unknown duration syphilis, 2.6 for P&S syphilis, and 2.3 for early NPNS syphilis. We thus observed a direct relationship between less healthy conditions (per HPI) and syphilis/CS in California, supporting our hypothesis that SDH correlate with disparities in syphilis, especially CS. HPI could inform allocation of resources to: (1) support communities most in need of assistance in preventing syphilis/CS cases and (2) reduce health disparities.

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Water, Health, and Environmental Justice in California: Geospatial Analysis of Nitrate Contamination and Thyroid Cancer.

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