Title
Type of disinfectant in drinking water and patterns of mortality
in Massachusetts.
Author
Zierler S; Danley RA; Feingold L
Address
Source
Environ Health Perspect, 1986 Nov, 69:, 275-9
Abstract
Chlorination has been the major strategy for disinfection of
drinking water in the United
States. Concern about the potential health effects of the reaction
by-products of chlorine has
prompted use of alternative strategies. One such method is chloramination,
a treatment
process that does not appear to have carcinogenic by-products,
but may have less potent
biocidal activity than chlorination. We examined the patterns
of mortality of residents in
Massachusetts who died between 1969 and 1983 and lived in communities
using drinking
water that was disinfected either by chlorine or chloramine.
Comparison of type of
disinfectant among 51,645 cases of deaths due to selected cancer
sites and 214,988 controls
who died from cardiovascular, cerebrovascular, or pulmonary disease,
or from lymphatic
cancer showed small variation in the patterns of mortality. Bladder
cancer was moderately
associated with residence at death in a chlorinated community
(mortality odds ratio = 1.7,
95% confidence interval = 1.3-2.2) in a logistic regression analysis
using controls who died
from lymphatic cancer. A slight excess of deaths from pneumonia
and influenza was
observed in communities whose residents drank chloraminated water
compared to residents
from chlorinated communities, as well as to all Massachusetts
residents (standardized
mortality ratio = 118, 95% confidence interval = 116-120 for
chloraminated communities,
and standardized mortality ratio = 98, 95% confidence interval
= 95-100 for chlorinated
communities). These results are intended to be preliminary and
crude descriptions of the
relationship under study.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Title
Asbestos in drinking water and cancer incidence in the San Francisco
Bay area.
Author
Kanarek MS; Conforti PM; Jackson LA; Cooper RC; Murchio JC
Address
Source
Am J Epidemiol, 1980 Jul, 112:1, 54-72
Abstract
Age-adjusted, sex- and race-specific 1969-1971 cancer incidence
ratios for the 722 census
tracts of the San Francisco-Oakland Standard Metropolitan Statistical
Area were compared
with measured chysotile asbestos counts in tract drinking waters.
The water supplies serving
the area have varying contact with naturally occurring serpentine.
The t test for multiple
regression coefficients and the t test for correlation coefficients
showed significant (p less
than 0.01) relationships between chrysotile asbestos content
of tract drinking water and
white male lung, white female gall bladder and pancreas, and
peritoneal cancers in both
sexes. Of weaker significance (0.01 less than or equal to 0.05)
were female esophagus,
pleura and kidney, as well as stomach cancers in both sexes.
These associations appeared to
be independent of income, education, asbestos occupation, marital
status, country of origin
and mobility.
Title
Epidemiology study of the use of asbestos-cement pipe for the
distribution of drinking
water in Escambia County, Florida.
Author
Millette JR; Craun GF; Stober JA; Kraemer DF; Tousignant HG;
Hildago E; Duboise RL;
Benedict J
Address
Source
Environ Health Perspect, 1983 Nov, 53:, 91-8
Abstract
Cancer mortality for the population census tracts of Escambia
County, FL, which use
asbestos-cement (AC) pipe for public potable water distribution,
was compared with cancer
mortality data collected from census tracts in the same county
where other types of piping
materials are used. An analysis of covariance was run to test
for differences in standard
mortality ratios for seven cancer sites among three potential
asbestos exposure groups based
on AC pipe usage. Twelve variables representing nonexposure-related
influences on disease
rates were combined in four independent factors and used as covariates
in these analyses.
No evidence for an association between the use of AC pipe for
carrying drinking water and
deaths due to gastrointestinal and related cancers was found.
The limitations on the
sensitivity of the analysis are discussed.
Title
Lung and kidney cancer mortality associated with arsenic in drinking
water in Córdoba,
Argentina.
Author
Hopenhayn Rich C; Biggs ML; Smith AH
Address
University of Kentucky, Department of Preventive Medicine and
Environmental Health,
Lexington 40504, USA.
Source
Int J Epidemiol, 1998 Aug, 27:4, 561-9
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Studies in Taiwan have found dose-response relations
between arsenic
ingestion from drinking water and cancers of the skin, bladder,
lung, kidney and liver. To
investigate these associations in another population, we conducted
a study in Córdoba,
Argentina, which has a well-documented history of arsenic exposure
from drinking water.
METHODS: Mortality from lung, kidney, liver and skin cancers
during the period
1986-1991 in Córdoba's 26 counties was investigated, expanding
the authors' previous
analysis of bladder cancer in the province. Counties were grouped
a priori into low, medium
and high arsenic exposure categories based on available data.
Standardized mortality ratios
(SMR) were calculated using all of Argentina as the reference
population. RESULTS: We
found increasing trends for kidney and lung cancer mortality
with arsenic exposure, with the
following SMR, for men and women respectively: kidney cancer,
0.87, 1.33, 1.57 and 1.00,
1.36, 1.81; lung cancer, 0.92, 1.54, 1.77 and 1.24, 1.34, 2.16
(in all cases, P < 0.001 in trend
test), similar to the previously reported bladder cancer results
(0.80, 1.28, 2.14 for men,
1.22, 1.39, 1.81 for women). There was a small positive trend
for liver cancer but mortality
was increased in all three exposure groups. Skin cancer mortality
was elevated for women
only in the high exposure group, while men showed a puzzling
increase in mortality in the
low exposure group. CONCLUSIONS: The results add to the evidence
that arsenic
ingestion increases the risk of lung and kidney cancers. In this
study, the association
between arsenic and mortality from liver and skin cancers was
not clear.
Title
Drinking water mutagenicity in past exposure assessment of the
studies on drinking water
and cancer: application and evaluation in Finland.
Author
Koivusalo MT; Jaakkola JJ; Vartiainen T
Address
Department of Environmental Health, National Public Health Institute,
Kuopio, Finland.
Source
Environ Res, 1994 Jan, 64:1, 90-101
Abstract
The assessment of past exposure is a prerequisite to all epidemiological
studies on drinking
water and cancer. In this study the past exposure assessment
of drinking water
carcinogenicity was done in terms of the drinking water mutagenicity
estimated from
historical water parameters and compared with the methods used
previously in past
exposure assessments in studies on drinking water and cancer.
The method was applied in
56 municipalities in Finland. The comparison of different methods
in past exposure
assessment suggests some advantages for the method presented
as it allows a quantitative
exposure assessment based on historical information on drinking
water mutagenicity.
Nevertheless the relevance of the method is with respect to the
role of mutagenicity in
carcinogenicity and the water type in question.
Title
Cancer mortality and type of water source: findings from a study
in the UK.
Author
Carpenter LM; Beresford SA
Address
Source
Int J Epidemiol, 1986 Sep, 15:3, 312-20
Abstract
The age-adjusted, sex-specific mortality rates from certain cancers
of the digestive system
were analysed by type of water source supplied to 238 urban areas
in England, Wales and
Scotland using weighted multiple regression. Of the types of
water source, the per cent
supplied from upland rivers best described the pattern in cancer
mortality for each cancer
site and each sex. After adjustment was made for a number of
socioeconomic factors, the
regression coefficient for the percentage of upland river supply
remained statistically
significant only for female stomach cancer and female intestinal
cancer. The association with
intestinal cancer could equally well be explained by some other
factor with a strong
north-west/south-east geographical distribution. The association
found for female stomach
cancer could not be accounted for by a geographical trend, but
suggests a small effect,
equivalent to a relative risk of only 1.11. This is an unexpected
finding and must be
considered a hypothesis, to be tested further by studies conducted
by other researchers, in
different locations, preferably on individuals.
Title
A retrospective study on malignant neoplasms of bladder, lung
and liver in blackfoot
disease endemic area in Taiwan.
Author
Chen CJ; Chuang YC; You SL; Lin TM; Wu HY
Address
Source
Br J Cancer, 1986 Mar, 53:3, 399-405
Abstract
A total of 69 bladder cancer, 76 lung cancer and 59 liver cancer
deceased cases and 368 alive
community controls group-matched on age and sex were studied
to evaluate the association
between high-arsenic artesian well water and cancers in the endemic
area of blackfoot
disease (BFD), a unique peripheral vascular disease related to
continuous arsenic exposure.
According to a standardized structured questionnaire, information
on risk factors was
obtained through proxy interview of the cases and personal interview
of the controls. A
positive dose-response relationship was observed between the
exposure to artesian well
water and cancers of bladder, lung and liver. The age-sex-adjusted
odds ratios of developing
bladder, lung and liver cancers for those who had used artesian
well water for 40 or more
years were 3.90, 3.39, and 2.67, respectively, as compared with
those who never used
artesian well water. Multiple binary logistic regression analyses
showed that the
dose-response relationships and odds ratios remained much the
same while other risk
factors were further adjusted.
Title
Cancer incidence following exposure to drinking water with asbestos
leachate.
Author
Howe HL; Wolfgang PE; Burnett WS; Nasca PC; Youngblood L
Address
Division of Epidemiologic Studies, Illinois Department of Public
Health, Springfield
62761.
Source
Public Health Rep, 1989 May, 104:3, 251-6
Abstract
In November 1985, the New York State Department of Health was
altered to extraordinary
concentrations of asbestos leachate in the drinking water in
the Town of Woodstock.
Concentrations of 3.2 million fibers per liter (MFL) to 304.5
MFL were found, depending
on location. An investigation of cancer incidence in the area
was conducted for the period
1973-83 using the State Cancer Registry to compute standardized
incidence ratios. No
evidence was found of elevated cancer incidence at sites associated
with asbestos exposure.
A statistically non-significant excess of kidney cancer was seen
among men, but not
women. Colon cancer among men was significantly low, but incidence
among women was
similar to that expected. Lung cancer incidence was lower than
expected for both sexes.
Ovarian cancer rates were not different from expected rates.
At sites not previously related
to asbestos exposure, cancer of the oral cavity was significantly
high, with most affected
persons having a history of cigarette smoking. Surveillance of
the community is continuing
because of an insufficient latent period for some exposed groups.
Title
Cancer and fluoridation.
Author
Cook Mozaffari P
Address
CRC, Cancer Epidemiology Research Group, Oxford, UK.
Source
Community Dent Health, 1996 Sep, 13 Suppl 2:, 56-62
Abstract
Early geographical studies of cancer in areas that have naturally-occurring
fluoride at
different levels gave no indication of an effect on cancer rates
associated with higher intakes
of fluoride. Following widespread fluoridation to improve dental
health in the United States
and Britain, non-epidemiologists presented analyses of cancer
data which they claimed
demonstrated such an effect. However, subsequent large-scale
comparisons of cancer rates
in fluoridated and non-fluoridated areas for successive periods
following fluoridation have
not indicated any increase, either for all cancer or for malignancies
across the range of
individual sites. Studies undertaken specifically to examine
the claims of the
non-epidemiologists have, time-and-again, shown that, with the
use of accurate data and
correct statistical methods, the purported effects cease to be
apparent. Details of the earlier
evidence and claims are given in the 'Report of a Working Party
on the Fluoridation of
Water and Cancer' by Professor George Knox (1985) and of more
recent analyses in
Hoover et al. (1991a; 1991b; unpublished internal US PHS Memo,
1993). The present
paper gives a brief overview of the evidence that fluoride in
drinking water has not been
shown to cause an increase in the risk of developing cancer and
of the errors in the analyses
that purport to show such an increase.
Title
Effect of population density on the results of the study of water
supplies in five California
counties.
Author
Conforti PM
Address
Source
Environ Health Perspect, 1983 Nov, 53:, 69-78
Abstract
Two previous studies (1969-1971 and 1969-1974) examined the association
between cancer
incidence and chrysotile asbestos ingested through drinking water
in the San
Francisco-Oakland Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area (SMSA).
Population density, an
important covariable in the association between cancer and environmental
agents, was not
included in the analyses of these studies. The present work determines
the effect of this
covariable on the results of the second San Francisco-Oakland
SMSA study. The original
and reanalyzed results are compared to reassess the association
between cancer and
asbestos. The only change in the regression procedures of the
original studies was the
addition of population density as an independent variable in
the reanalysis. The results of the
reanalysis showed that population density had little effect on
the results of the second study.
Slightly more significance was found for asbestos regression
coefficients in the reanalysis,
including population density, than in the original analysis.
These regression coefficients for
asbestos indicated a positive association between ingested chrysotile
asbestos and some
cancer body sites. The conclusion of the reanalysis was that
population density was
distributed across the San Francisco-Oakland SMSA in such a way
that it had little effect on
the observation of an association between ingested asbestos and
cancer.
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