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Risk of Internal Cancers from Arsenic in Drinking Water
Resource
ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH PERSPECTIVES v.108 n.7 pp.655-661
Journal
ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH PERSPECTIVES
Journal Volume
v.108
Journal Issue
n.7
Pages
655-661
Date Issued
2000
Date
2000
Author(s)
MORALES KNASHAWNH
RYAN LOUISE
KUO, TSUNG-LI
WU, MEEI-MAAN
CHEN, CHIEN-JEN
Abstract
The U.S.Environmental Protection Agency is under a congressional mandate to revise its current standard for arsenic in drinking water. We present a risk assesment for cancers of the bladder, liver, and lung from exposure to arsenic in water, based on data from 42 villages in an arseniasis- endemic region of Taiwan. We calculate excess lifetime risk estimates for several variations of the generalized linear model and for the multistage- Weibull model. Risk estimates are sensitive to the model choice, to whether or not a comparison population is mused to define the unexposed disease mortality rates, and to whether the comparison population is all of Taiwan or just the southwestern region. Some factors that may affect risk could not be evaluated quantitatively: the ecologic nature of the data, the nutritional status of the study population, and the dietary intake of arsenic. Despite all of these sources of uncertainty, however, our analysis suggests that the current standard of 50 ug/L is associated with a substancial increased risk of cancer and is not sufficiently protective of public health.
Subjects
Bladder cancer
generalized linear model
lifetime death risk
lung cancer
margin of exposure
multistage-Weibull
SDGs