TY - JOUR
T1 - Comparison of coliform contamination in non-municipal waters consumed by the Mennonite versus the non-Mennonite rural populations
AU - Amraotkar, Alok Ravindra
AU - Hargis, Charles William
AU - Cambon, Alexander C.
AU - Rai, Shesh Nath
AU - Keith, Matthew Cody Lee
AU - Ghafghazi, Shahab
AU - Bolli, Roberto
AU - DeFilippis, Andrew Paul
N1 - Funding Information:
Acknowledgments We would like to acknowledge the contributions of Margaret Ann Vick, RS, Senior Environmental Health Specialist, Allen County Health Department, Scottsville, Kentucky in data gathering and the support of the Old Order Mennonite community of Allen County, Kentucky. Dr. Shesh Rai is the Wendell Cherry Chair in Clinical Trial Research at the University of Louisville and is supported by Dr. DM Miller, Director, James Graham Brown Cancer Center.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2015, The Japanese Society for Hygiene.
PY - 2015/9/28
Y1 - 2015/9/28
N2 - Objectives: Mennonites reside in clusters, do not use modern sewage systems and consume water from non-municipal sources. The purpose of this study is to assess risk of Escherichia coli exposure via consumption of non-municipal waters in Mennonite versus non-Mennonite rural households. Methods: Results were reviewed for non-municipal water samples collected by the local health department from Mennonite and non-Mennonite lifestyle households from 1998 through 2012. Water contamination was examined with the help of two study variables: water quality (potable, polluted) and gastrointestinal (GI) health risk (none, low, high). These variables were analyzed for association with lifestyle (Mennonite, non-Mennonite) and season (fall, winter, spring, summer) of sample collection. Data were split into two periods to adjust for the ceiling effect of laboratory instrument. Results: From the entire cohort, 82 % samples were polluted and 46 % samples contained E. coli, which is consistent with high GI health risk. In recent years (2009 through 2012), the presence of total coliforms was higher in non-Mennonites (39 %, P = 0.018) and presence of E. coli was higher in Mennonites (P = 0.012). Most polluted samples were collected during summer (45 %, P = 0.019) and had high GI health risk (51 %, P = 0.008) as compared to other seasons. Conclusions: Majority of non-municipal waters in this region are polluted, consuming those poses a high GI health risk and contamination is prevalent in all households consuming these waters. An association of E. coli exposure with the Mennonite lifestyle was limited to recent years. Seasons with high heat index and increased surface runoffs were the riskiest to consume non-municipal waters.
AB - Objectives: Mennonites reside in clusters, do not use modern sewage systems and consume water from non-municipal sources. The purpose of this study is to assess risk of Escherichia coli exposure via consumption of non-municipal waters in Mennonite versus non-Mennonite rural households. Methods: Results were reviewed for non-municipal water samples collected by the local health department from Mennonite and non-Mennonite lifestyle households from 1998 through 2012. Water contamination was examined with the help of two study variables: water quality (potable, polluted) and gastrointestinal (GI) health risk (none, low, high). These variables were analyzed for association with lifestyle (Mennonite, non-Mennonite) and season (fall, winter, spring, summer) of sample collection. Data were split into two periods to adjust for the ceiling effect of laboratory instrument. Results: From the entire cohort, 82 % samples were polluted and 46 % samples contained E. coli, which is consistent with high GI health risk. In recent years (2009 through 2012), the presence of total coliforms was higher in non-Mennonites (39 %, P = 0.018) and presence of E. coli was higher in Mennonites (P = 0.012). Most polluted samples were collected during summer (45 %, P = 0.019) and had high GI health risk (51 %, P = 0.008) as compared to other seasons. Conclusions: Majority of non-municipal waters in this region are polluted, consuming those poses a high GI health risk and contamination is prevalent in all households consuming these waters. An association of E. coli exposure with the Mennonite lifestyle was limited to recent years. Seasons with high heat index and increased surface runoffs were the riskiest to consume non-municipal waters.
KW - Gastrointestinal health risk
KW - Mennonites
KW - Non-municipal waters
KW - Water quality
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84940447287&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84940447287&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s12199-015-0472-4
DO - 10.1007/s12199-015-0472-4
M3 - Article
C2 - 26068785
AN - SCOPUS:84940447287
SN - 1342-078X
VL - 20
SP - 338
EP - 346
JO - Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine
JF - Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine
IS - 5
ER -