Type of disinfectant in drinking water and patterns of mortality in Massachusetts

Journal Article · Sat Nov 01 04:00:00 EST 1986 · Environ. Health Perspect.; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.8669275· OSTI ID:5749782

Zierler, S; Danley, R A; Feingold, L

Chlorination has been the major strategy for disinfection of drinking water in the United States. Concern about the potential health effects of the reaction by-products of chlorine has prompted use of alternative strategies. One such method is chloramination, a treatment process that does not appear to have carcinogenic by-product, but may have less potent biocidal activity than chlorination. The authors examined the patterns of mortality of residents in Massachusetts who died between 1969 and 1983 and lived in communities using drinking water that was disinfected either by chlorine or chloramine. Comparison of type of disinfectant among 51,645 cases of deaths due to selected cancer sites and 214,998 controls who died from cardiovascular, cerebrovascular, or pulmonary disease, or from lymphatic cancer showed small variation in the patterns of mortality. Bladder cancer was moderately associated with residence at death in a chlorinated community in a logistic regression analysis using controls who die from lymphatic cancer. A slight excess of deaths from pneumonia and influenza was observed in communities whose residents drink chloraminated water compared to residents from chlorinated communities, as well as to all Massachusetts residents. These results are intended to be preliminary and crude descriptions of the relationship under study. The serious potential for misclassification of exposure status and errors in death certificate classification of cause of death affect the interpretability of the overall evidence that patterns of mortality are similar according to disinfectant in drinking water.

• Research Organization: Massachusetts Dept. of Public Health, Boston
• OSTI ID: 5749782
• Journal Information: Environ. Health Perspect.; (United States), Journal Name: Environ. Health Perspect.; (United States) Vol. 69; ISSN EVHPA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

560300* -- Chemicals Metabolism & Toxicology
63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
AMINES
CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASES
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
CHLORAMINES
CHLORINATION
DISEASES
DISINFECTANTS
DRINKING WATER
EPIDEMIOLOGY
FEDERAL REGION I
GERMICIDES
HALOGENATION
HAZARDS
HEALTH HAZARDS
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
LYMPHATIC SYSTEM
MASSACHUSETTS
MORTALITY
NEOPLASMS
NORTH AMERICA
ORGANIC CHLORINE COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC HALOGEN COMPOUNDS
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PUBLIC HEALTH
RESPIRATORY SYSTEM DISEASES
USA
WATER
WATER TREATMENT