Geographical Distribution Patterns of Iodine in Drinking-Water and Its Associations with Geological Factors in Shandong Province, China

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

Jie Gao²  Zhijie Zhang²  Yi Hu²  Jianchao Bian¹  Wen Jiang¹  Xiaoming Wang¹  Liqian Sun² 

[1] Shandong Institute of Prevention and Control for Endemic Disease, Jinan 250014, China; E-Mails:;Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China; E-Mails:

关键词: iodine;    risk factors;    spatial epidemiology;    geographic information system;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ijerph110505431

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

County-based spatial distribution characteristics and the related geological factors for iodine in drinking-water were studied in Shandong Province (China). Spatial autocorrelation analysis and spatial scan statistic were applied to analyze the spatial characteristics. Generalized linear models (GLMs) and geographically weighted regression (GWR) studies were conducted to explore the relationship between water iodine level and its related geological factors. The spatial distribution of iodine in drinking-water was significantly heterogeneous in Shandong Province (Moran’s I = 0.52, Z = 7.4, p < 0.001). Two clusters for high iodine in drinking-water were identified in the south-western and north-western parts of Shandong Province by the purely spatial scan statistic approach. Both GLMs and GWR indicated a significantly global association between iodine in drinking-water and geological factors. Furthermore, GWR showed obviously spatial variability across the study region. Soil type and distance to Yellow River were statistically significant at most areas of Shandong Province, confirming the hypothesis that the Yellow River causes iodine deposits in Shandong Province. Our results suggested that the more effective regional monitoring plan and water improvement strategies should be strengthened targeting at the cluster areas based on the characteristics of geological factors and the spatial variability of local relationships between iodine in drinking-water and geological factors.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2014 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.