TY  - JOUR
AU  - Maurice, L.
AU  - López, F.
AU  - Becerra, S.
AU  - Jamhoury, H.
AU  - Le Menach, K.
AU  - Dévier, M.-H.
AU  - Budzinski, H.
AU  - Prunier, J.
AU  - Juteau-Martineau, G.
AU  - Ochoa-Herrera, V.
AU  - Quiroga, D.
AU  - Schreck, E.
PY  - 2019//
TI  - Drinking water quality in areas impacted by oil activities in Ecuador: Associated health risks and social perception of human exposure
T2  - Sci. Total Environ.
JO  - Science of the Total Environment
SP  - 1203
EP  - 1217
VL  - 690
PB  - Elsevier B.V.
KW  - Demineralized waters
KW  - Domestic waters
KW  - Hydrocarbons
KW  - Metal(loid)s
KW  - Oil activities
KW  - Social risk perception
KW  - Benzene refining
KW  - Health
KW  - Health risks
KW  - Petroleum refineries
KW  - Petroleum refining
KW  - Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
KW  - Potable water
KW  - Risk assessment
KW  - Risk perception
KW  - Toluene
KW  - Trace elements
KW  - Water quality
KW  - Water wells
KW  - Zinc
KW  - Arsenic concentration
KW  - Demineralized water
KW  - Domestic water
KW  - Information sources
KW  - Living conditions
KW  - Microbiological analysis
KW  - Natural backgrounds
KW  - Water distribution systems
N2  - The unregulated oil exploitation in the Northern Ecuadorian Amazon Region (NEAR), mainly from 1964 to the 90's, led to toxic compounds largely released into the environment. A large majority of people living in the Amazon region have no access to drinking water distribution systems and collects water from rain, wells or small streams. The concentrations of major ions, trace elements, PAHs (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) and BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylenes) were analyzed in different water sources to evaluate the impacts of oil extraction and refining. Samples were taken from the NEAR and around the main refinery of the country (Esmeraldas Oil Refinery/State Oil Company of Ecuador) and were compared with domestic waters from the Southern region, not affected by petroleum activities. In most of the samples, microbiological analysis revealed a high level of coliforms representing significant health risks. All measured chemical compounds in waters were in line with national and international guidelines, except for manganese, zinc and aluminum. In several deep-water wells, close to oil camps, toluene concentrations were higher than the natural background while PAHs concentrations never exceeded individually 2 ng·L−1. Water ingestion represented 99% of the total exposure pathways for carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic elements (mainly zinc) in adults and children, while 20% to 49% of the Total Cancer Risk was caused by arsenic concentrations. The health index (HI) indicates acceptable chronic effects for domestic use according the US-EPA thresholds. Nevertheless, these limits do not consider the cocktail effects of metallic and organic compounds. Furthermore, they do not include the social determinants of human exposure, such as socio-economic living conditions or vulnerability. Most (72%) of interviewed families knew sanitary risks but a discrepancy was observed between knowledge and action: religious beliefs, cultural patterns, information sources, experience and emotions play an important role front to exposure. © 2019
SN  - 00489697 (Issn)
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.07.089
N1  - exported from refbase (http://php.ecofog.gf/refbase/show.php?record=877), last updated on Sun, 21 Jul 2019 12:38:13 -0300
ID  - Maurice_etal2019
ER  -