Association between arsenic, cadmium, manganese, and lead levels in private wells and birth defects prevalence in North Carolina: a semi-ecologic study

BMC Public Health

Rebecca C Fry⁶  Robert E Meyer⁵  Andrew F Olshan⁴  Dianne Enright⁷  Amy H Herring¹  Joshua L Warren²  Tania A Desrosiers⁵  Alison P Sanders³ 

[1] Department of Biostatistics, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA;Current affiliation: Department of Biostatistics, Yale School of Public Health, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA;Current affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA;Department of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA;Division of Public Health, North Carolina Birth Defects Monitoring Program, State Center for Health Statistics, Raleigh, NC, USA;Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA;Division of Public Health, Health and Spatial Analysis Branch, State Center for Health Statistics, Raleigh, NC, USA

关键词: Congenital anomalies;    Birth defects;    Drinking water;    Congenital heart defect;    Lead;    Manganese;    Cadmium;    Arsenic;    Metals;   

Others  :  1127038
DOI  :  10.1186/1471-2458-14-955

 received in 2014-02-19, accepted in 2014-09-09,  发布年份 2014

【 摘 要 】

Background

Toxic metals including arsenic, cadmium, manganese, and lead are known human developmental toxicants that are able to cross the placental barrier from mother to fetus. In this population-based study, we assess the association between metal concentrations in private well water and birth defect prevalence in North Carolina.

Methods

A semi-ecologic study was conducted including 20,151 infants born between 2003 and 2008 with selected birth defects (cases) identified by the North Carolina Birth Defects Monitoring Program, and 668,381 non-malformed infants (controls). Maternal residences at delivery and over 10,000 well locations measured for metals by the North Carolina Division of Public Health were geocoded. The average level of each metal was calculated among wells sampled within North Carolina census tracts. Individual exposure was assigned as the average metal level of the census tract that contained the geocoded maternal residence. Prevalence ratios (PR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated to estimate the association between the prevalence of birth defects in the highest category (≥90^th percentile) of average census tract metal levels and compared to the lowest category (≤50^th percentile).

Results

Statewide, private well metal levels exceeded the EPA Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) or secondary MCL for arsenic, cadmium, manganese, and lead in 2.4, 0.1, 20.5, and 3.1 percent of wells tested. Elevated manganese levels were statistically significantly associated with a higher prevalence of conotruncal heart defects (PR: 1.6 95% CI: 1.1-2.5).

Conclusions

These findings suggest an ecologic association between higher manganese concentrations in drinking water and the prevalence of conotruncal heart defects.

【 授权许可】

   
2014 Sanders et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

【 图 表 】

Figure 1.

Figure 2.

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