An exploratory study of chemical elements in drinking water and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma

ISSN： 0277-2248

Source： Toxicological and Environmental Chemistry, Vol.90, Iss.6, 2008-11, pp. : 1227-1247

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Abstract

Previous studies reported associations of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) with agriculture, agricultural practices, herbicide, and insecticide exposure. McDuffie et al. (McDuffie, H.H., P. Pahwa, and D.F. White. 1995. Saskatchewan women and agricultural exposures: any relationship to tumor incidence? In Agricultural Health and Safety: Workplace, Environment, Sustainability, ed. HH McDuffie, JA Dosman, KM Semchuk, S.A. Olenchock, and A. Senthilselvan, 135-42. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, Lewis Publishers) demonstrated a significantly higher risk of NHL associated with drinking water from shallow as compared to deep wells among women in Saskatchewan. Contamination of drinking water derived from groundwater sources may be due to natural sources and/or to the widespread use of pesticides and agricultural chemicals which may contain heavy metals and other elements as active ingredients. A NHL case (n = 88) - control (n = 132) study of drinking water quality was conducted by questionnaire, and by measuring the concentrations of 64 chemical elements simultaneously in drinking water samples utilizing inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry technology. These data are reported either as geometric means or log-transformed because of skewness. Independent two sample t-test was used to compare the concentrations of each chemical element in samples of drinking water obtained from the homes of cases and controls. The chemical elemental analysis revealed statistically significant case/control differences in concentrations of 15 chemical elements versus three expected based on chance. Elements for which the concentrations in case/control drinking water samples differed were: lithium, boron, aluminum, silicon, phosphorus, titanium, cobalt, arsenic, selenium, yttrium, zirconium, cadmium, cesium, gadolinium, and uranium. The mean aluminum concentration was higher in water taken from the homes of controls compared to case homes, while the reverse occurred for the other 14 elements, with statistically significant differences in concentration.