指南
公共卫生
环境卫生
业务
人口
安全饮用水法案
供水
全球卫生
经济增长
医学
水质
政治学
经济
工程类
法学
生态学
护理部
环境工程
生物
作者
Seth H. Frisbie,Erika J. Mitchell
出处
期刊:PLOS ONE
[Public Library of Science]
日期:2022-04-06
卷期号:17 (4): e0263505-e0263505
被引量:31
标识
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0263505
摘要
Evidence-based public health policy often comes years or decades after the underlying scientific breakthrough. The World Health Organization's (WHO's) provisional 10 μg/L arsenic (As) drinking water guideline was set in 1993 based on "analytical achievability." In 2011, an additional proviso of "treatment performance" was added; a health-based risk assessment would lead to a lower and more protective guideline. Since the WHO does not require United Nations member states to submit copies of national drinking water regulations, there is no complete database of national drinking water standards or guidelines. In this study, we collated and analyzed all drinking water regulations for As from national governments worldwide. We found regulations for 176 countries. Of these countries, 136 have drinking water regulations that specify 10 μg/L As or less, while 40 have regulations that allow more than 10 μg/L of As; we could not find any evidence of regulations for 19 countries. The number of people living in countries that do not meet the WHO's guideline constitutes 32% of the global population. Global As regulations are also strongly tied to national income, with high income countries more likely to meet the WHO's guideline. In this study, we examined the health risk assessments that show a clear need for reducing As exposure to levels far below the current WHO provisional guideline. We also show that advances in analytical chemistry, drinking water treatment, and the possibility of accessing alternative drinking water supplies without As suggest that both low-income countries with limited resources and high-income countries with adequate resources can adopt a lower and more protective national drinking water standards or guidelines for As. Thus, we recommend that regulators and stake holders of all nations reassess the possibilities for improving public health and reducing health care expenses by adopting more stringent regulations for As in drinking water.
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