title: Residential exposure to chlorinated hydrocarbons from groundwater contamination and the impairment of renal function-An ecological study.
abstract: Groundwater pollution from the petrochemical industry causes serious deterioration of soil and groundwater quality and impacts on human health worldwide. However, few studies have examined the effect of residential exposure to petrochemical chlorinated hydrocarbon-contaminated groundwater on renal function impairment in humans. We conducted an ecological study to investigate the two. A polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plant was located in one of the six villages, the study area, in Kaohsiung city of southwestern Taiwan. Based on the direction of groundwater flow and previous groundwater measurements of chlorinated hydrocarbons from Taiwan Environmental Protection Bureau, we divided the six villages into highly-polluted villages, moderately-polluted villages, and a non-polluted village. All inhabitants in those six villages were invited to receive free health examinations between May-June, 2010. In total, 4,432 study subjects ≥18 yrs old were analyzed. Compared to those in the non-polluted village, subjects in highly-polluted villages had 1.89- and 1.46-fold the risk of impaired estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and proteinuria (95% CI = 1.15-1.85 and 1.09-3.28, respectively) after adjusting for other covariates. Given this relative large sample size, we found that groundwater chlorinated hydrocarbon pollution can cause kidney damage in adults.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, College of Health Sciences, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.|Department of Family Medicine and Occupational Medicine, Kaohsiung Chang-Gang Memorial Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Hui-Ming
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, College of Health Sciences, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.|Research Center of Environmental Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.|Department of Family Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.|Center of Environmental and Occupational Medicine, Kaohsiung Municipal Hsiao-Kang Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical University, No.482, Shanming Road, Kaohsiung 812, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Ming-Tsang
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Wu
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003710:Demography; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D005260:Female; D060587:Groundwater / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D006843:Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated / Q000009:adverse effects*; D007668:Kidney / Q000503:physiopathology*; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D055549:Volatile Organic Compounds / Q000032:analysis; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis* / Q000097:blood / Q000652:urine
chemical_list: D006843:Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated; D055549:Volatile Organic Compounds; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical