Community Engaged Cumulative Risk Assessment of Exposure to Inorganic Well Water Contaminants, Crow Reservation, Montana

Margaret J. Eggers, John T. Doyle, Myra J. Lefthand, Sara L. Young, Anita L. Moore-Nall, Larry Kindness, Roberta Other Medicine, Timothy E. Ford, Eric Dietrich, Albert E. Parker, Joseph H. Hoover and Anne K. Camper
Additional contact information
Margaret J. Eggers: Center for Biofilm Engineering, Montana State University, P.O. Box 173980, Bozeman, MT 59717, USA
John T. Doyle: Crow Environmental Health Steering Committee, Little Big Horn College, Crow Agency, MT 59022, USA
Myra J. Lefthand: Crow Environmental Health Steering Committee, Little Big Horn College, Crow Agency, MT 59022, USA
Sara L. Young: Crow Environmental Health Steering Committee, Little Big Horn College, Crow Agency, MT 59022, USA
Anita L. Moore-Nall: Department of Earth Sciences, Montana State University, P.O. Box 173480, Bozeman, MT 59717, USA
Larry Kindness: Crow Environmental Health Steering Committee, Little Big Horn College, Crow Agency, MT 59022, USA
Roberta Other Medicine: Crow Environmental Health Steering Committee, Little Big Horn College, Crow Agency, MT 59022, USA
Timothy E. Ford: School of Public Health and Health Sciences, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 715 N. Pleasant Street, Amherst, MA 01003, USA
Eric Dietrich: Center for Biofilm Engineering, Montana State University, P.O. Box 173980, Bozeman, MT 59717, USA
Albert E. Parker: Center for Biofilm Engineering, Montana State University, P.O. Box 173980, Bozeman, MT 59717, USA
Joseph H. Hoover: Health Sciences Center, MSC09 5360, 1 University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA
Anne K. Camper: Center for Biofilm Engineering, Montana State University, P.O. Box 173980, Bozeman, MT 59717, USA

IJERPH, 2018, vol. 15, issue 1, 1-34

Abstract: An estimated 11 million people in the US have home wells with unsafe levels of hazardous metals and nitrate. The national scope of the health risk from consuming this water has not been assessed as home wells are largely unregulated and data on well water treatment and consumption are lacking. Here, we assessed health risks from consumption of contaminated well water on the Crow Reservation by conducting a community-engaged, cumulative risk assessment. Well water testing, surveys and interviews were used to collect data on contaminant concentrations, water treatment methods, well water consumption, and well and septic system protection and maintenance practices. Additive Hazard Index calculations show that the water in more than 39% of wells is unsafe due to uranium, manganese, nitrate, zinc and/or arsenic. Most families’ financial resources are limited, and 95% of participants do not employ water treatment technologies. Despite widespread high total dissolved solids, poor taste and odor, 80% of families consume their well water. Lack of environmental health literacy about well water safety, pre-existing health conditions and limited environmental enforcement also contribute to vulnerability. Ensuring access to safe drinking water and providing accompanying education are urgent public health priorities for Crow and other rural US families with low environmental health literacy and limited financial resources.

Keywords: drinking water; chemicals; health risks; exposure assessment; cumulative risk assessment; risk communication; CBPR; environmental health; environmental justice; Native American (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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