Reduction in drinking water arsenic exposure and health risk through arsenic treatment among private well households in Maine and New Jersey, USA

Yang，Qiang1; Flanagan，Sara V.1; Chillrud，Steven1; Ross，James1; Zeng，Wenke1,2; Culbertson，Charles3; Spayd，Steven4; Backer，Lorraine5; Smith，Andrew E.6; Zheng，Yan1,2

2020-10-10

10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.139683

SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT   影响因子和分区

0048-9697

1879-1026

Over 2 million mostly rural Americans are at risk of drinking water from private wells that contain arsenic (As) exceeding the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) of 10 micrograms per liter (μg/L). How well existing treatment technologies perform in real world situations, and to what extent they reduce health risks, are not well understood. This study evaluates the effectiveness of household As treatment systems in southern-central Maine (ME, n = 156) and northern New Jersey (NJ, n = 94) and ascertains how untreated well water chemistry and other factors influence As removal. Untreated and treated water samples, as well as a treatment questionnaire, were collected. Most ME households had point-of-use reverse-osmosis systems (POU RO), while in NJ, dual-tank point-of-entry (POE) whole house systems were popular. Arsenic treatment systems reduced well water arsenic concentrations ([As]) by up to two orders of magnitude, i.e. from a median of 71.7 to 0.8 μg/L and from a mean of 105 to 14.3 μg/L in ME, and from a median of 8.6 to 0.2 μg/L and a mean of 15.8 to 2.1 μg/L in NJ. More than half (53%) of the systems in ME reduced water [As] to below 1 μg/L, compared to 69% in NJ. The treatment system failure rates were 19% in ME (>USEPA MCL of 10 μg/L) and 16% in NJ (>NJ MCL of 5 μg/L). In both states, the higher the untreated well water [As] and the As(III)/As ratio, the higher the rate of treatment failure. POE systems failed less than POU systems, as did the treatment systems installed and maintained by vendors than those by homeowners. The 7-fold reduction of [As] in the treated water reduced skin cancer risk alone from 3765 to 514 in 1 million in ME, and from 568 to 75 in 1 million in NJ.

Arsenic removal Exposure Health risk Point-of-entry Point-of-use Private well

SCI ; EI

英语

通讯

U.S. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) Superfund Research Program (SRP)[3 P42 ES10349] ; U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (USCDC)[NUE2EH001326-03]

Environmental Sciences & Ecology

Environmental Sciences

WOS:000568707900017

ELSEVIER

20202408816056

Water quality ; Failure analysis ; Arsenic ; Health ; Potable water ; Systems engineering ; Chemicals removal (water treatment) ; Environmental Protection Agency

Water Resources:444 ; Water Analysis:445.2 ; Industrial Wastes:452.3 ; Environmental Impact and Protection:454.2 ; Medicine and Pharmacology:461.6 ; Health Care:461.7 ; Chemical Agents and Basic Industrial Chemicals:803 ; Chemical Products Generally:804 ; Systems Science:961

ENVIRONMENT/ECOLOGY

2-s2.0-85086142064

Scopus

1.Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory,Columbia University,Palisades,10964,United States
2.School of Environmental Science and Engineering,Southern University of Science and Technology,Shenzhen,518055,China
3.U.S. Geological Survey,New England Water Science Center,Augusta,04330,United States
4.New Jersey Geological and Water Survey,Trenton,08625,United States
5.National Center for Environmental Health,U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,Atlanta,30341,United States
6.Maine Department of Health and Human Services,Center for Disease Control and Prevention,Augusta,04333,United States

Yang，Qiang,Flanagan，Sara V.,Chillrud，Steven,et al. Reduction in drinking water arsenic exposure and health risk through arsenic treatment among private well households in Maine and New Jersey, USA[J]. SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT,2020,738.

Yang，Qiang.,Flanagan，Sara V..,Chillrud，Steven.,Ross，James.,Zeng，Wenke.,...&Zheng，Yan.(2020).Reduction in drinking water arsenic exposure and health risk through arsenic treatment among private well households in Maine and New Jersey, USA.SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT,738.

Yang，Qiang,et al."Reduction in drinking water arsenic exposure and health risk through arsenic treatment among private well households in Maine and New Jersey, USA".SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 738(2020).