Hair analysis does not support hypothesized arsenic and chromium exposure from drinking water in Woburn, Massachusetts

Environmental Health Perspectives

Volumn 105, Issue 10, 1997, Pages 1090-1097

  Rogers, Catriona E ^a,b   Tomita, Aoy V ^a,b   Trowbridge, Philip R ^a,b   Gone, Jec Kong ^a,b   Chen, Jia ^a,b   Zeeb, Peter ^a,b   Hemond, Harold F ^a,b   Thilly, William G ^a,b   Olmez, Ilhan ^a,b   Durant, John L ^c  

^a Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge   (United States)

^b MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY   (United States)

^c Tufts University   (United States)

Author keywords

Arsenic; Chromium; Groundwater; Human hair; Massachusetts; Woburn

Indexed keywords

ARSENIC; CHROMIUM; DRINKING WATER; GROUND WATER; WELL WATER;

ADOLESCENT; ADULT; ARTICLE; CHILD; ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURE; HAIR ANALYSIS; HUMAN; INFANT; NEUTRON ACTIVATION ANALYSIS; PRIORITY JOURNAL; REGRESSION ANALYSIS; UNITED STATES; WATER CONTAMINATION;

EID: 0031410523     PISSN: 00916765     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1289/ehp.971051090     Document Type: Article

References (40)

1. Massachusetts State Board of Health. Second Annual Report. Boston, MA:Department of Public Health, 1871.
2. Massachusetts State Board of Health. Fifth Annual Report. Boston, MA:Department of Public Health, 1874.
3. Massachusetts State Board of Health. Sixth Annual Report. Boston, MA:Department of Public Health, 1875.
4. Tarr JA. History of pollution in Woburn, Massachusetts. In: Wells G&H Site Remedial Investigation Report Part 1, Woburn, Massachusetts, Vol 2. Boxborough, MA: GeoTrans, Inc., 1987.
5. Durant JL, Zemach JJ, Hemond HF. The history of leather industry waste contamination in the Aberjona watershed: a mass balance approach. J Boston Soc Civ Eng 5:41-65 (1990).
6. Department of Environmental Protection. List of Confirmed Disposal Sites and Locations to Be Investigated. Boston, MA:Department of Environmental Protection, 1993.
7. Aurilio A, Durant JL, Hemond HF. Sources and distribution of arsenic contamination in the Aberjona watershed, eastern Massachusetts. Water Air Soil Pollut 81:265-282 (1995).
8. Davis A, Sellstone C, Clough S, Barrick R, Yare B. Bioaccumulation of arsenic, chromium and lead in fish: constraints imposed by sedimentary geochemistry, Appl Geochem 11:409-423 (1996).
9. Bowen HJM. Environmental Chemistry of the Elements. New York:Academic Press, 1979.
10. Shacklette HT, Boerngen JG. Element Concentrations in Soils and Other Surficial Materials of the Conterminous United States. USGS Professional Paper 1270. Alexandria, VA:U.S. Geological Survey, 1992.
11. Knox M. The distribution and depositional history of metals in surface sediments of the Aberjona watershed [M.S. Thesis]. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 1991.
12. Spliethoff HM, Hemond HF. History of toxic metal discharge to surface waters of the Aberjona watershed. Environ Sci Technol 30:121-128 (1996).
13. Durant JL, Chen J, Hemond HF, Thilly WG. Elevated incidence of childhood leukemia in Woburn, Massachusetts: NIEHS superfund basic research program searches for causes. Environ Health Perspect 103 (suppl 6):93-98 (1995).
14. Murphy PJ. Water Distribution in Woburn, MA; Massachusetts Department of Environmental Quality Engineering, Office of Research and Standards, Pub No 86-1. Amherst, MA:The Environmental Institute, University of Massachusetts, 1986.
15. Myette CF, Olimpio JC, Johnson DG. Area of Influence and Zone of Contribution to Superfund-Site Wells G and H, Woburn Massachusetts. USGS Water-Resources Investigation Report 87-4100. Boston, MA:U.S. Geological Survey, 1987.
16. Stoeppler M, Vahter M. Arsenic. In: Techniques and Instrumentation in Analytical Chemistry: Trace Element Analysis in Biological Specimens, Vol 15 (Herber RFM, Stoeppler M, eds). Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1994;291-320.
17. Liebscher K, Smith H. Essential and nonessential trace elements. A method of determining whether an element is essential and nonessential in human tissue. Arch Environ Health 17:881-890 (1968).
18. Randall J, Gibson R. Hair chromium as an index of chromium exposure of tannery workers. Br J Ind Med 46:171-175 (1989).
19. Pankhurst CA, Pate BD. Trace elements in hair. Rev Anal Chem 4:111-235 (1979).
20. Hambidge MK, Franklin ML, Jacobs MA. Hair chromium concentrations: effects of sample washing and external environment. Am J Clin Nutr 25:384-389 (1972).
21. Valentine JL, Kang HK, Spivey G. Arsenic levels in human blood, urine, and hair in response to exposure via drinking water. Environ Res 20:24-32 (1978).
22. Zhang C, Wang G, Xiao B. Research on the physicochemical properties of hair in endemic arsenism areas. J Zhong Hua Prevent Med 26:19-22 (1992).
23. Khorvat A. Arsenic content in the body of people residing in a territory with increased arsenic levels. Gig Sank 6:62-65 (1981).
24. Rosas I, Belmont R, Baez A, Villalobos-Pietrini R. Some aspects of the environmental exposure to chromium residues in Mexico. Water Air Soil Pollut 48:463-475 (1989).
25. International Atomic Energy Agency. Activation Analysis of Hair as an Indicator of Contamination of Man by Environmental Trace Element Pollutants. IAEA/RL/50, Vienna: 1978.
26. Olmez I. Instrumental neutron activation analysis of atmospheric particulate matter. In: Methods of Air Sampling and Analysis (Lodge JP Jr, ed). 3rd ed. Chelsea, MI:Lewis Publishers, 1989;143-150.
27. Schütz A, Skarping G, Skerfving S. Mercury. In: Techniques and Instrumentation in Analytical Chemistry: Trace Element Analysis in Biological Specimens, Vol 15 (Herber RFM, Stoeppler M, eds). Amsterdam, Elsevier, 1994;403-476.
28. Massachusetts Department of Public Health. Woburn childhood leukemia follow-up study. Boston, MA:Bureau of Environmental Health Assessment, Massachusetts Department of Public Health, 1996.
29. Iyengar GV, Kollmer WE, Bowen HJM. The Elemental Composition of Human Tissues and Body Fluids. New York:Verlag Chemie, 1978.
30. Takagi Y, Matsuda S, Imai S, Ohmori Y, Masuda T, Vinson JA, Mehra MC, Puri BK, Kaniewski A. Trace elements in human hair: an international comparison. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 36:793-800 (1986).
31. Takeuchi T, Hayashi T, Takada J, Hayashi Y, Koyama M, Kozuka H, Tsuji H, Kusaka Y, Ohmori S, Shinogi M. Variation of elemental concentration in hair of the Japanese in terms of age, sex, and hair treatment. J Radioanal Chem 70:29-55 (1982).
32. Vance DE, Ehmann WD, Markesbery WR. Trace element content in fingernails and hair of a nonindustrialized US control population. Biol Trace Elem Res 17:109-121 (1988).
33. Ohmori S, Tsuji H, Kusaka Y, Takeuchi T, Hayashi T, Takada J, Koyama M, Kozuka H, Shinogi M, Aoki A. Radioactivation analysis of hair: a means of biological monitoring of the environment. J Radioanal Chem 63:269-282 (1981).
34. Tomza U, Maenhaut W. Trace elements in head hair of hemodialysis patients. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 86:209-220 (1984).
35. Lagakos SW, Wessen BJ, Zelen MJ. An analysis of contaminated well water and health effects in Woburn, Massachusetts. Am Stat Assoc 81:583-601 (1986).
36. Waldorf HA, Cleary RK. Water Distribution System, Woburn, Massachusetts, 1964-1979. Boston, MA:New England Interstate Water Pollution Control Commission, 1984.
37. Zeeb PJ. Piezocone mapping, groundwater monitoring, and flow modeling in a riverine peatland: implications for the transport of arsenic [Ph.D. Thesis]. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 1996.
38. Koons R, Peters C. Axial distribution of arsenic in individual human hairs by solid sampling graphite furnace AAS. J Anal Toxicol 18:36-40 (1994).
39. Poklis A, Saady J. Arsenic poisoning: acute or chronic? Am J Forensic Med Pathol 1:226-232 (1990).
40. Hambidge K, Franklin M, Jacobs M. Changes in hair chromium concentrations with increasing distances from hair roots. Am J Clin Nutr 25:380-383 (1972).