Hunter Brandon, Flowers Catherine Coleman, Mejia Rojelio, Deshusses Marc Arnold
Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA.
Center for Rural Enterprise & Environmental Justice, Madison, AL, USA.
Infect Dis Poverty. 2025 Jul 11;14(1):65. doi: 10.1186/s40249-025-01334-4.
Lowndes County is a predominantly Black rural county in Alabama, in the United States, which has a historical and current legacy of racial discrimination, creating inequitable infrastructure access and adverse health impacts. Over 80% rely on on-site sanitation infrastructure and most are failing. A community assessment of exposure to untreated sewage was conducted using samples from residential drinking water, surface swabs, and soil combined with environmental water and soil samples using culture-based and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) methods. Testing varied slightly across samples, due to difficulty of access or availability. Of 43 households, 68% and 55% of houses had detectable presence of human fecal matter indicator in their soils and on their doorsteps, respectively, and 0% had detectable amounts of culturable Escherichia coli in their drinking water. Of 40 houses sampled, 88% tested positive for E. coli in soil samples. Of 39 residences, 31% had positive presence of environmental and zoonotic parasites in soil, but none for Necator americanus, Cryptosporidium species, or Giardia intestinalis. Of the 18 sampled environmental surface waters, 100% tested positive for culturable E. coli, 50% had detectable human fecal matter indicator present, and 27% tested positive for anthropogenic parasites. This work sheds light that there is presence of culturable E. coli, human fecal matter, and anthropogenic parasites in residential soil samples of all sanitation types (municipal, septic tank, and straight piping) and in environmental surface waters throughout the sampled areas. Our findings support the narrative that sanitation infrastructure of all types in Lowndes County, Alabama are compromised and highlights residential and environmental exposure to raw wastewater.
朗兹县是美国阿拉巴马州一个以黑人为主的农村县，有着种族歧视的历史和现实遗留问题，导致基础设施获取不公平并对健康产生不利影响。超过80%的人依赖现场卫生设施，而大多数设施都存在故障。通过采集居民饮用水、表面拭子和土壤样本，并结合环境水和土壤样本，采用基于培养的方法和定量聚合酶链反应（qPCR）方法，对未处理污水的暴露情况进行了社区评估。由于获取困难或样本可用性问题，不同样本的检测略有差异。在43户家庭中，分别有68%和55%的房屋土壤和门阶上检测到人类粪便指示物，而0%的家庭饮用水中检测到可培养的大肠杆菌。在40所采样房屋中，88%的土壤样本检测出大肠杆菌呈阳性。在39处住宅中，31%的土壤中环境和人畜共患寄生虫呈阳性，但美洲板口线虫、隐孢子虫属或肠道贾第虫均未检测到阳性。在18个采样的环境地表水样本中，100%检测出可培养的大肠杆菌呈阳性，50%检测到存在人类粪便指示物，27%检测出人为寄生虫呈阳性。这项工作揭示了在所有卫生类型（市政、化粪池和直管）的住宅土壤样本以及整个采样区域的环境地表水中，存在可培养的大肠杆菌、人类粪便和人为寄生虫。我们的研究结果支持了这样一种说法，即阿拉巴马州朗兹县所有类型的卫生基础设施都存在问题，并突出了居民和环境对未经处理废水的暴露情况。
