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6 Epidemiologic Studies of Solvent-Contaminated Water Supplies
Pages 165-179

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From page 165...
... As at Camp Lejeune, a population's water supply was contaminated with solvents from industrial sources, distributed to the public, and used for household purposes. Thus, such studies have had to grapple with the same methodologic challenges that face investigators of the Camp Lejeune situation, including exposure assessment, population identification, potential confounding factors, and small study size and statistical power.
From page 166...
... TCE, ammonium Ecologic Residential location (13 16 cancer types Significantly higher number of cases Morgan and Cassady 2002; perchlorate in census tracts served by than expected for uterine cancer (n = authors attribute excess groundwater contaminated wells)
From page 167...
... , more, years of education, from hazardous- levels based on contrast-sensitivity tests C, D smoking, alcohol waste sites residential (census (P = 0.06, 0.07) ; 37-83% higher consumption block)
From page 168...
... due to dumping of solid, liquid wastes Woburn, MA, 1964-1983 TCE, PCE in Cohort Annual estimates of Childhood Positive associations reported for Smoking, age, prior fetal Lagakos et al. 1986 municipal wells fraction of water supply leukemia, adverse childhood leukemia (n = 20; loss, prior perinatal death, contaminated by served by contaminated pregnancy P = 0.001)
From page 169...
... ) coupled to n = 154d cancer, prior breast cancer, information on tap age at first live birth or water consumption and stillbirth, occupational bathing habits exposure to PCE Case- See Aschengrau et al.
From page 170...
... , n = 4 Southern Finland TCE, PCE from Ecologic Residence at diagnosis Liver cancer, Increaseded risks in Hausjarvi: Vartiainen et al. 1993 industrial sources, (Hausjarvi and Hattula)
From page 171...
... d Analysis restricted to nonproxy subjects. Abbreviations: CI = confidence interval, CNS = central nervous system, GIS = geographic information system, MOR = mortality odds ratio, NHL = non-Hodgkin lymphoma, NR = not reported, OR = odds ratio, PCE = perchloroethylene, RR = relative risk, SES = socioeconomic status, SGA = small for gestational age, SIR = standardized incidence ratio, SRR = standardized rate ratio, TCE = trichloroethylene.
From page 172...
... means that monitoring data on a water supply for the putative agents were largely nonexistent except for periods close to or right after identification of the problem, as was the case at Camp Lejeune. In Woburn, Massachusetts, for example, concerns about possible contamination from industrial wastes in the late 1970s led to the testing and closing of wells in which increased concentrations of TCE (267 ppb)
From page 173...
... 1989; Swan solvent storage tank (near Dec.
From page 174...
... 2002; Trichlorofluoroethane 23 ppb Byers et al. 1988; wells closed after sampling in DCE 28 ppb May 1979 Arsenic 0.0020 ppm Chloroform 11.8 ppb Cape Cod, MA TCE in inner vinyl lining ~1980 Water-distribution pipes PCE 1,600-7,750 µg/L Aschengrau et al.
From page 175...
... 0 µg/L (2) Southern Finland Industrial sources (Oitti)
From page 176...
... 2005 sites (n = 15) 0.4-234 ppb; maximum concentrations, 3-24,000 ppb Iowa Sampling of drinking water from treatment TCE Data reported as % of Isacson et al.
From page 177...
... To evaluate heterogeneity in the effects of contaminated water on cancer risk due to water-related behavior, stratified analyses by usual bathing habits (mostly showers, mostly baths, or about equal baths and showers) were conducted in the studies carried out in the Upper Cape region of Massachusetts (Ashengrau et al.
From page 178...
... Therefore, even acknowledging that the studies are more directly comparable with the Camp Lejeune circumstances than the methodologically stronger studies discussed in Chapter 5, the committee concluded that the epidemiologic literature would be most effectively used if all of it, rather than only studies of community watercontamination episodes, were comprehensively evaluated. The studies reviewed in this chapter were given extra attention because of their applicability, and in some instances (such as the evidence linking water solvents to breast cancer on Cape Cod [Aschengrau et al.
From page 179...
... CONCLUSIONS Collectively, the epidemiologic studies of solvent contamination of water supplies and adverse health effects are of limited quality. If their distinctive strengths and limitations are taken into account, such studies contribute to the overall assessment of the epidemiologic literature, but the committee has judged that their strengths (comparability with Camp Lejeune in exposure pathways and diversity of exposed population)


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