Uranium detectable in two-thirds of US community water system monitoring records

Researchers at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health found that metal concentrations were particularly elevated in CWSs serving semi-urban, Hispanic communities. The communities had the highest concentrations of some elements.

The risk of developing chronic diseases is related to the amount of uranium in the environment. Until now little epidemiological research had been done on the health effects of chronic water uranium exposure. It has been underappreciated as a public drinking water contaminant. The results of the study are published in a journal.

Anne Nigra, assistant professor of Environmental Health Sciences at Columbia Mailman School, said that previous studies have found associations between chronic uranium exposure and increased risk of hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and lung cancer at high levels of exposure.

Most residents rely on community water systems that serve the same population year-round, but 90 percent of US residents rely on public drinking water systems. The researchers looked at the records of the EPA for six years to see if the average concentrations exceeded the maximum levels set by the EPA. There are 13 million records from 139,000 public water systems. An online interactive map of estimated metal concentrations at the CWS and county levels was created by the researchers.

According to findings, 2% of community water systems reported an average U.S. concentration that exceeded the EPA's maximum contamination levels, and U.S. was frequently detected during compliance monitoring. Concerns were raised for semi-urban, Hispanic populations and the possibility of influencing inequalities in public drinking water due to the elevated concentrations of arsenic, barium, chromium, and selenium in CWSs.

The correlation between elevated CWS metal concentrations and semi-urban Hispanic communities implies that there is a failure of regulatory policy or treatment. Hispanic/Latino populations have higher mortality due to diabetes, as well as other diseases.

Nigra said that additional regulatory policies, compliance enforcement, and improved infrastructure are necessary to reduce disparity in CWS metal concentrations and protect communities served by public water systems with elevated metal concentrations.

The co-authors are Filippo and Kathrin, Benjamin and Steven, and Anirban and Anacien.

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