{"title":"Cancer incidence associations with drinking water arsenic levels and disinfection methods in Maine, USA.","authors":"Jean D MacRae, Michael D Abbott, Gudeta D Fufaa","doi":"10.2166/wh.2024.313","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Maine is a largely rural state where nearly half of the population uses drinking water from private wells. Arsenic (As) is present in some Maine groundwater, has been linked to cancer, and a lack of testing and treatment may expose people with private wells to elevated As levels. Disinfection byproducts (DBPs) include known and suspected carcinogens that form when chlorine or chloramines are added to water. People served by public water systems may be exposed to elevated levels of regulated DBPs such as trihalomethanes and haloacetic acids associated with chlorine and/or unregulated nitrogenous DBPs, or N-DBPs, such as nitrite and N-nitrosodimethylamine associated with chloramines. Contrary to initial expectations, there were no significant associations between median town As in well water and bladder, lung, kidney, or skin cancer incidence. Furthermore, bladder, melanoma, and other skin cancer incidence rates were negatively correlated with the percent of the town population using private wells. Analysis of cancer incidence associated with chlorine and chloramine disinfection showed elevated melanoma, and other skin cancer with chloramine use and elevated bladder and non-melanoma skin cancer with chlorine use compared to the no disinfectant case. We recommend more research on the links between disinfectant use and cancer.</p>","PeriodicalId":17436,"journal":{"name":"Journal of water and health","volume":"22 11","pages":"2246-2256"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5000,"publicationDate":"2024-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of water and health","FirstCategoryId":"93","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.2166/wh.2024.313","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2024/10/28 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Maine is a largely rural state where nearly half of the population uses drinking water from private wells. Arsenic (As) is present in some Maine groundwater, has been linked to cancer, and a lack of testing and treatment may expose people with private wells to elevated As levels. Disinfection byproducts (DBPs) include known and suspected carcinogens that form when chlorine or chloramines are added to water. People served by public water systems may be exposed to elevated levels of regulated DBPs such as trihalomethanes and haloacetic acids associated with chlorine and/or unregulated nitrogenous DBPs, or N-DBPs, such as nitrite and N-nitrosodimethylamine associated with chloramines. Contrary to initial expectations, there were no significant associations between median town As in well water and bladder, lung, kidney, or skin cancer incidence. Furthermore, bladder, melanoma, and other skin cancer incidence rates were negatively correlated with the percent of the town population using private wells. Analysis of cancer incidence associated with chlorine and chloramine disinfection showed elevated melanoma, and other skin cancer with chloramine use and elevated bladder and non-melanoma skin cancer with chlorine use compared to the no disinfectant case. We recommend more research on the links between disinfectant use and cancer.
期刊介绍:
Journal of Water and Health is a peer-reviewed journal devoted to the dissemination of information on the health implications and control of waterborne microorganisms and chemical substances in the broadest sense for developing and developed countries worldwide. This is to include microbial toxins, chemical quality and the aesthetic qualities of water.