Session
Research and policy perspectives: Disparities in U.S. drinking water quality and access
APHA 2022 Annual Meeting and Expo
Abstract
Drinking Water & Environmental Injustice: Policy Challenges & Solutions
APHA 2022 Annual Meeting and Expo
Although the Safe Drinking Water Act was intended to ensure safe tap water for every American served by a public water system, in practice the Act has failed to achieve this goal. Detailed data analyses show there are disproportionate numbers of violations and ineffective enforcement in low-income and in predominantly Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) communities. Targeted studies have shown that often BIPOC communities are disproportionately exposed to specific contaminants such as nitrates and lead. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law enacted in 2021 will spend over $30 billion dollars to address drinking water problems, but these funds must be targeted to the communities most in need. Several specific policy and implementation reforms including improved EPA standard setting and more effective state and EPA enforcement, data collection, auditing and oversight, and better targeted funding could help address these issues.
Abstract
Lead contamination of US drinking water is an EJ issue
APHA 2022 Annual Meeting and Expo
Lead contamination of drinking water is disproportionately reported or uncovered in low income and minority communities. The risk factors include distressed municipalities and rural areas; a history of underinvestment in public infrastructure, including water infrastructure; and old and poorly maintained housing stock combined with high rates of rental housing. We will also present the results of the data on the extent of lead pipes submitted to EPA by US public water supplies.
Abstract
Safe home water access for low-income families with young children
APHA 2022 Annual Meeting and Expo
Background: From 2015 to 2018, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency found that 7,463 public water systems serving 51 million people reported at least one health-based violation. Communities have unsafe drinking water due to aging public water supply infrastructure and home wells with unsafe levels of contaminants like arsenic and nitrate. Pregnant people, infants, and young children are especially vulnerable to the health harms of unsafe drinking water.
Aim: This presentation describes policy and systems change opportunities to provide individual and community resources and capacity to achieve greater water security for pregnant people and low-income families with infants and young children.
Methods: This study used a mixed-methods analysis including legal review, case interview, and economic evaluation to identify the activities, resources, and population reach associated with actions to provide more equitable access to safe home drinking water for low-income families with children aged 0-5.
Results: Researchers identified six strategies at the state and local levels in urban and rural settings to improve access to home water quality testing, home well water treatment device installation, filter pitcher distribution, and lead service line replacement. Key tailored strategies used to reach the focus population included building on community capacity to identify those at most risk, policies to increase healthy options for drinking water, systems to reduce deterrents to testing and treating, and increasing subsidies for effective testing and remediation efforts. If implemented over five years, each of these strategies could reach 480 to 135,000 households in their respective geographic areas.
Conclusions: Opportunities for improving access to safe drinking water at home can account for features of the local water system, water source, and community context. Policies and programs can be tailored to reach pregnant people and low-income families with infants and young children, who are most at risk when exposed to unsafe drinking water.
Abstract
Disparities in access to community water service: effects on risks of exposure to lead and children’s cognitive outcomes
APHA 2022 Annual Meeting and Expo
Background: Early-life exposure to environmental lead (Pb) has been linked to permanent neurocognitive damage that can manifest in diverse undesired outcomes—ranging from learning difficulties to decreased lifetime earnings—later in life. Beginning in 1990, public drinking water utilities were required to implement corrosion control programs to prevent Pb release from water mains, household plumbing, and faucets and fixtures. Prior research in North Carolina has documented racial disparities in access to regulated community water systems and a resulting increased risk of exposure to Pb in drinking water due to lack of corrosion control.
Objective: The objective of this study was to estimate the effects of racial disparities in community water service on children’s blood Pb, K-12 test scores, and juvenile delinquency risks.
Methods: We created a longitudinal data set linking blood Pb measurements for 13,647 Wake County, NC, children under age 6 to their drinking water source. These records were matched with end-of-grade reading and math test scores for the same children at grades 4 and 8 and with juvenile delinquency complaints at ages 14-18. A two-stage, least-squares regression approach was used to estimate the effects of Pb in the children’s private well water on educational outcomes and juvenile delinquency risks.
Results: On average, the children in homes with unregulated private wells had 15% higher blood Pb than those with community water service. Exposure to Pb from private well water was associated with significant decreases (0.3-2.3 percentage points) in end-of-grade reading and math test scores in grades 4 and 8. Compared to children with community water service, those relying on private wells early in life had significantly higher risks (21% and 38%, respectively) of being reported for any delinquency or serious delinquency after age 14.
Conclusion: There could be substantial but as-yet unrecognized social benefits from intervention programs to prevent children’s exposure to Pb from private well water in areas that are in close proximity to but excluded from municipal water service.
Abstract
What You Don’t Know Can Hurt You: Gaps in State Private Well Protections, Policy Solutions, and a Case Study of Nitrate in Maryland
APHA 2022 Annual Meeting and Expo
Forty-two million Americans get their drinking water from unregulated water sources, primarily private wells. The federal Safe Drinking Water Act does not cover private wells, therefore those who rely on them are largely responsible for ensuring their drinking water is safe. Several states, however, have adopted policies and programs to protect private well owners, many of whom live in agricultural, rural, and underserved areas. The presentation will share findings of a national review of 10 key programs adopted by states to protect private well owners. The presentation will also share a case study of nitrate contamination in private wells in an agricultural region of Maryland, and how water quality data and community science were used to spur policy reform at the state level. This case study serves as a model for other advocates and public health researchers seeking to increase transparency for groundwater and well water data in their states, and improve resources and information provided to private well owners.