Influence of drinking water chloroform on the oncological incidence of the population of Kirovograd region

Abstract

Objective: We determined the quantitative indices of the influence of chlorinated drinking water contaminated with the organochlorine compounds on cancer morbidity in order to substantiate the preventive measures to minimize this impact on the health of the population. Materials and methods: We carried out an epidemiological analysis of the data on cancer incidence among the adult population of the cities of Svitlovodsk, Alexandria, Znamenka, Kropyvnytskyi of Kirovohrad region for 10 years (2006-2015). 160 samples of drinking water from the Dnipro-Kirovohrad main water conduit and plumbing networks of investigated cities on the content of organochlorine compounds (HOS) were analyzed. We used correlation, cluster, and regression analyses (using STATISTICA 7.0 and Microsoft Excel programs) to establish the relationship between OCC and cancer incidence in the population of Kirovohrad region. Results: There is a steady increase in the oncological morbidity of the adult population of the region (an increase of 14.3%) by chloroform content in drinking water at the level of 2-3 MPC. There is a correlation connection between excess chloroform content in drinking water and tumors of the stomach and colon (r=0.9, p<0.05) in the population of Kirovohrad region. Prolonged consumption of chlorinated drinking water led to 170 additional cases of oncological diseases per 100 thousand people in the region. Conclusions: The population of the large cities of Kirovohrad region is provided with drinking water from the Dnipro-Kirovohrad water conduit with an excess content of OCC, mainly of chloroform (2-3 MPC). Their population is at risk of stomach and colon cancer (r=0.9, p<0.05). Consumption of drinking water contaminated with chloroform can affect the occurrence of the additional levels of the oncological pathology in the population (160 cases per 100 thousand people in men and 190 cases - in women). Dozens of cases of stomach and colon cancer are associated with chlorinated drinking water. The contamination of drinking water with the excessive amount of chloroform is one of the factors of the increase of cancer incidence in the population of large cities of Kirovohrad region. It requires the use of the effective preventive measures and management decisions for the reduction of the content of toxic OCC in drinking water and prevention of their impact on the health of the population.