University of Maine Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 5711 Boardman Hall, Orono, Maine 04469-5711, USA E-mail:
School of Health Sciences, American Public University, American Military University, 303 W 3rd Ave, Ranson, West Virginia 23438, USA.
J Water Health. 2024 Nov;22(11):2246-2256. doi: 10.2166/wh.2024.313. Epub 2024 Oct 28.
Maine is a largely rural state where nearly half of the population uses drinking water from private wells. Arsenic (As) is present in some Maine groundwater, has been linked to cancer, and a lack of testing and treatment may expose people with private wells to elevated As levels. Disinfection byproducts (DBPs) include known and suspected carcinogens that form when chlorine or chloramines are added to water. People served by public water systems may be exposed to elevated levels of regulated DBPs such as trihalomethanes and haloacetic acids associated with chlorine and/or unregulated nitrogenous DBPs, or N-DBPs, such as nitrite and N-nitrosodimethylamine associated with chloramines. Contrary to initial expectations, there were no significant associations between median town As in well water and bladder, lung, kidney, or skin cancer incidence. Furthermore, bladder, melanoma, and other skin cancer incidence rates were negatively correlated with the percent of the town population using private wells. Analysis of cancer incidence associated with chlorine and chloramine disinfection showed elevated melanoma, and other skin cancer with chloramine use and elevated bladder and non-melanoma skin cancer with chlorine use compared to the no disinfectant case. We recommend more research on the links between disinfectant use and cancer.
缅因州是一个以农村为主的州，近一半的人口使用私人水井的饮用水。砷（As）存在于一些缅因州的地下水中，与癌症有关联，缺乏测试和治疗可能会使使用私人水井的人暴露在高砷水平下。消毒副产物（DBPs）包括已知和疑似致癌物质，当氯或氯胺被添加到水中时会形成。由公共供水系统供水的人可能会接触到更高水平的受监管的 DBPs，如与氯相关的三卤甲烷和卤乙酸，以及不受监管的含氮 DBPs，或 N-DBPs，如与氯胺相关的亚硝酸盐和 N-亚硝基二甲胺。与最初的预期相反，井水中城镇砷的中位数与膀胱癌、肺癌、肾癌或皮肤癌的发病率之间没有显著关联。此外，膀胱癌、黑色素瘤和其他皮肤癌的发病率与使用私人水井的城镇人口比例呈负相关。与氯和氯胺消毒相关的癌症发病率分析显示，与不使用消毒剂的情况相比，使用氯胺会导致黑色素瘤和其他皮肤癌发病率升高，而使用氯会导致膀胱癌和非黑色素瘤皮肤癌发病率升高。我们建议进行更多关于消毒剂使用与癌症之间联系的研究。
