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An evaluation of the USEPA Proposed Approaches for applying a biologically based dose-response model in a risk assessment for perchlorate in drinking water.
Clewell, HJ, Gentry, PR, Hack, CE, Greene, T, Clewell, RA
Regulatory toxicology and pharmacology : RTP. 2019;:237-252
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Abstract
The United States Environmental Protection Agency's (USEPA) 2017 report, "Draft Report: Proposed Approaches to Inform the Derivation of a Maximum Contaminant Level Goal for Perchlorate in Drinking Water", proposes novel approaches for deriving a Maximum Contaminant Level Goal (MCLG) for perchlorate using a biologically-based dose-response (BBDR) model. The USEPA (2017) BBDR model extends previously peer-reviewed perchlorate models to describe the relationship between perchlorate exposure and thyroid hormone levels during early pregnancy. Our evaluation focuses on two key elements of the USEPA (2017) report: the plausibility of BBDR model revisions to describe control of thyroid hormone production in early pregnancy and the basis for linking BBDR model results to neurodevelopmental outcomes. While the USEPA (2017) BBDR model represents a valuable research tool, the lack of supporting data for many of the model assumptions and parameters calls into question the fitness of the extended BBDR model to support quantitative analyses for regulatory decisions on perchlorate in drinking water. Until more data can be developed to address uncertainties in the current BBDR model, USEPA should continue to rely on the RfD recommended by the NAS (USEPA, 2005) when considering further regulatory action.
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Antibiotic resistance in drinking water systems: Occurrence, removal, and human health risks.
Sanganyado, E, Gwenzi, W
The Science of the total environment. 2019;:785-797
Abstract
In recent years, there has been a growing interest on the occurrence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB) and antibiotic resistant genes (ARGs) in treated and untreated drinking water. ARB and ARGs pose a public health concern when they transfer antibiotic resistance (AR) to human pathogens. However, it is still unclear whether the presence of environmental ARB and ARGs in source water, drinking water treatment plants, and drinking water distribution systems has any significant impact on human exposure to pathogenic ARB. In this review, we critically examine the occurrence of AR in groundwater, surface water, and treated distributed water. This offered a new perspective on the human health threat posed by AR in drinking water and helped in crafting a strategy for monitoring AR effectively. Using existing data on removal of ARB and ARGs in drinking water treatment plants, presence and proliferation of AR in drinking water distribution systems, and mechanisms and pathways of AR transfer in drinking water treatment plants, we conclude that combining UV-irradiation with advanced oxidative processes (such as UV/chlorine, UV/H2O2, and H2O2/UV/TiO2) may enhance the removal of ARB and ARGs, while disinfection may promote horizontal gene transfer from environmental ARB to pathogens. The potential human health risks of AR were determined by examining human exposure to antibiotic resistant human pathogens and re-evaluating waterborne disease outbreaks and their links to environmental AR. We concluded that integrating disease outbreak analysis, human exposure modelling, and clinical data could provide critical information that can be used to estimate the dose-response relationships of pathogenic ARB in drinking water, which is required for accurate risk assessments.
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On the Use of Hair Analysis for Assessing Arsenic Intoxication.
Katz, SA
International journal of environmental research and public health. 2019;(6)
Abstract
Correlations between the concentrations of arsenic in scalp hair and in drinking water as well as in blood and/or urine have been reported. These correlations clearly show exposureâ»absorptionâ»excretion relationships. In addition, arsenic metabolites such as monomethylarsonic acid and dimethylarsinic acid have been identified and quantified in these tissues and fluids, leaving little doubt that elevated levels of arsenic in the hair can reflect systemic arsenic intoxication. Consequently, hair analysis has potential merit as a screening procedure for poisoning by arsenic. However, questions regarding the exogenous versus the endogenous deposition of arsenic in the hair, and uncertainties about the normal level of arsenic in the hair remain unresolved. Pending their resolution, the determination of arsenic in hair should remain a screening tool, and clinical signs and symptoms should be employed to complete the diagnosis of arsenic poisoning.
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Avoiding Alzheimer's disease: The important causative role of divalent copper ingestion.
Brewer, GJ
Experimental biology and medicine (Maywood, N.J.). 2019;(2):114-119
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Abstract
The work described in this review is very important to scientists working on Alzheimer's disease (AD) because it reveals a cause for the explosive epidemic of this disease. It is also important to the public because it provides a method to avoid this newly revealed cause, and thereby avoid AD. The field is advanced because this review reveals new information about the mechanism of AD pathogenesis, namely copper, and specifically divalent copper, toxicity is important. New information about divalent copper toxicity in the brain affecting cognition is revealed. The field is impacted strongly because, in view of the frustrations that have occurred in treatment developed, now most AD can be prevented. This means the suffering of the patient, the prolonged and difficult care required by caregivers, and the enormous expenditures for this one disease, can now be avoided.
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Understanding the impacts of intermittent supply on the drinking water microbiome.
Bautista-de Los Santos, QM, Chavarria, KA, Nelson, KL
Current opinion in biotechnology. 2019;:167-174
Abstract
Increasing access to piped water in low-income and middle-income countries combined with the many factors that threaten our drinking water supply infrastructure mean that intermittent water supply (IWS) will remain a common practice around the world. Common features of IWS include water stagnation, pipe drainage, intrusion, backflow, first flush events, and household storage. IWS has been shown to cause degradation as measured by traditional microbial water quality indicators. In this review, we build on new insights into the microbial ecology of continuous water supply systems revealed by sequencing methods to speculate about how intermittent supply conditions may further influence the drinking water microbiome, and identify priorities for future research.
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Nontuberculous mycobacteria in drinking water systems - the challenges of characterization and risk mitigation.
Dowdell, K, Haig, SJ, Caverly, LJ, Shen, Y, LiPuma, JJ, Raskin, L
Current opinion in biotechnology. 2019;:127-136
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Abstract
Nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) pulmonary infections are a growing concern worldwide, with a disproportionate incidence in persons with pre-existing health conditions. NTM have frequently been found in municipally-treated drinking water and building plumbing, leading to the hypothesis that an important source of NTM exposure is drinking water. The identification and quantification of NTM in environmental samples are complicated by genetic variability among NTM species, making it challenging to determine if clinically relevant NTM are present. Additionally, their unique cellular features and lifestyles make NTM and their nucleic acids difficult to recover. This review highlights a recent work focused on quantification and characterization of NTM and on understanding the influence of source water, treatment plants, distribution systems, and building plumbing on the abundance of NTM in drinking water.
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Potential of biological approaches for cyanotoxin removal from drinking water: A review.
Kumar, P, Hegde, K, Brar, SK, Cledon, M, Kermanshahi-Pour, A
Ecotoxicology and environmental safety. 2019;:488-503
Abstract
Biological treatment of cyanotoxins has gained much importance in recent decades and holds a promise to work in coordination with various physicochemical treatments. In drinking water treatment plants (DWTPs), effective removal of cyanotoxins with reduced toxicity is a primary concern. Commonly used treatments, such as ozonation, chlorination or activated carbon, undergo significant changes in their operating conditions (mainly dosage) to counter the variation in different environmental parameters, such as pH, temperature, and high cyanotoxin concentration. Presence of metal ions, natural organic matter (NOM), and other chemicals demand higher dosage and hence affect the activation energy to efficiently break down the cyanotoxin molecule. Due to these higher dose requirements, the treatment leads to the formation of toxic metabolites at a concentration high enough to break the guideline values. Biological methods of cyanotoxin removal proceed via enzymatic pathway where the protein-encoding genes are often responsible for the compound breakdown into non-toxic metabolites. However, in contrast to the chemical treatment, the biological processes advance at a much slower kinetic rate, predominantly due to a longer onset period (high lag phase). In fact, more than 90% of the studies reported on the biological degradation of the cyanotoxins attribute the biodegradation to the bacterial suspension. This suspended growth limits the mass transfer kinetics due to the presence of metal ions, NOMs and, other oxidizable matter, which further prolongs the lag phase and makes biological process toxic-free, albeit less efficient. In this context, this review attempts to bring out the importance of the attached growth mechanism, in particular, the biofilm-based treatment approaches which can enhance the biodegradation rate.
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Betaproteobacteria are predominant in drinking water: are there reasons for concern?
Ferro, P, Vaz-Moreira, I, Manaia, CM
Critical reviews in microbiology. 2019;(5-6):649-667
Abstract
Betaproteobacteria include some of the most abundant and ubiquitous bacterial genera that can be found in drinking water, including mineral water. The combination of physiology and ecology traits place some Betaproteobacteria in the list of potential, yet sometimes neglected, opportunistic pathogens that can be transmitted by water or aqueous solutions. Indeed, some drinking water Betaproteobacteria with intrinsic and sometimes acquired antibiotic resistance, harbouring virulence factors and often found in biofilm structures, can persist after water disinfection and reach the consumer. This literature review summarises and discusses the current knowledge about the occurrence and implications of Betaproteobacteria in drinking water. Although the sparse knowledge on the ecology and physiology of Betaproteobacteria thriving in tap or bottled natural mineral/spring drinking water (DW) is an evidence of this review, it is demonstrated that DW holds a high diversity of Betaproteobacteria, whose presence may not be innocuous. Frequently belonging to genera also found in humans, DW Betaproteobacteria are ubiquitous in different habitats, have the potential to resist antibiotics either due to intrinsic or acquired mechanisms, and hold different virulence factors. The combination of these factors places DW Betaproteobacteria in the list of candidates of emerging opportunistic pathogens. Improved bacterial identification of clinical isolates associated with opportunistic infections and additional genomic and physiological studies may contribute to elucidate the potential impact of these bacteria.
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A review of the pathways of human exposure to poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) and present understanding of health effects.
Sunderland, EM, Hu, XC, Dassuncao, C, Tokranov, AK, Wagner, CC, Allen, JG
Journal of exposure science & environmental epidemiology. 2019;(2):131-147
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Abstract
Here, we review present understanding of sources and trends in human exposure to poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) and epidemiologic evidence for impacts on cancer, immune function, metabolic outcomes, and neurodevelopment. More than 4000 PFASs have been manufactured by humans and hundreds have been detected in environmental samples. Direct exposures due to use in products can be quickly phased out by shifts in chemical production but exposures driven by PFAS accumulation in the ocean and marine food chains and contamination of groundwater persist over long timescales. Serum concentrations of legacy PFASs in humans are declining globally but total exposures to newer PFASs and precursor compounds have not been well characterized. Human exposures to legacy PFASs from seafood and drinking water are stable or increasing in many regions, suggesting observed declines reflect phase-outs in legacy PFAS use in consumer products. Many regions globally are continuing to discover PFAS contaminated sites from aqueous film forming foam (AFFF) use, particularly next to airports and military bases. Exposures from food packaging and indoor environments are uncertain due to a rapidly changing chemical landscape where legacy PFASs have been replaced by diverse precursors and custom molecules that are difficult to detect. Multiple studies find significant associations between PFAS exposure and adverse immune outcomes in children. Dyslipidemia is the strongest metabolic outcome associated with PFAS exposure. Evidence for cancer is limited to manufacturing locations with extremely high exposures and insufficient data are available to characterize impacts of PFAS exposures on neurodevelopment. Preliminary evidence suggests significant health effects associated with exposures to emerging PFASs. Lessons learned from legacy PFASs indicate that limited data should not be used as a justification to delay risk mitigation actions for replacement PFASs.
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Drinking Water Microbiome Project: Is it Time?
Hull, NM, Ling, F, Pinto, AJ, Albertsen, M, Jang, HG, Hong, PY, Konstantinidis, KT, LeChevallier, M, Colwell, RR, Liu, WT
Trends in microbiology. 2019;(8):670-677
Abstract
Now is an opportune time to foster collaborations across sectors and geographical boundaries to enable development of best practices for drinking water (DW) microbiome research, focusing on accuracy and reproducibility of meta-omic techniques (while learning from past microbiome projects). A large-scale coordinated effort that builds on this foundation will enable the urgently needed comprehensive spatiotemporal understanding and control of DW microbiomes by engineering interventions to protect public health. This opinion paper highlights the need to initiate and conduct a large-scale coordinated DW microbiome project by addressing key knowledge gaps and recommends a roadmap for this effort.