TOPIC OF CONCERN - Clean Water

About Clean Water

People who travel abroad know the familiar problem with unsafe drinking water. At home, we scarcely give it a thought. Usually, we are right. But the sources of our drinking water are constantly under siege from naturally occurring events and human activities that can pollute our sources of drinking water.

Did you know?

In the United States, water utilities treat nearly 34 billion gallons of water every day
In the United States and Canada, the total miles of water pipeline and aqueducts equal approximately one million miles - enough to circle the globe 40 times
Americans drink more than one billion glasses of tap water per day
Children in the first six months of life consume seven times as much water per pound as the average American adult.

The Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences is involved in three areas of water quality research and control:

Waterborne microbial illnesses
Contamination of drinking water with metals such as arsenic and lead
Biomagnification of toxins in the ocean food chain

– EPA

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Our Involvement

Faculty

Courses

ENV H 433 Environmental and Occupational Sampling and Analysis III
ENV H 440 Water, Wastewater and Health
ENV H 451 Ecology of Environmentally Transmitted Microbiological Hazards
ENV H 452 Detection and Control of Environmentally Transmitted Microbiological Hazards
ENV H 541 Ecology of Environmentally Transmitted Microbial Hazards
ENV H 542 Detection and Control of Environmentally Transmitted Microbial Hazards
ENV H 545 Water, Wastewater and Health

Centers, Institutes and Studies

News Coverage

Catherine Karr, director of the Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit, is quoted in a May 8, 2006, Seattle Times story, "Water's arsenic levels seen as only slight risk at schools."

Scott Meschke was quoted in a Jan. 4, 2006, Seattle Post-Intelligencer story, "Plan calls for new pipes at schools."

Mysteries of the human-ocean relationship, DEOHS Biennial Report 2003-2005

Penetrating the Defenses of the Toughest Microbes, DEOHS Biennial Report 2003-2005

A Risk Equation for Schools, DEOHS Biennial Report 2003-2005

Lead in Seattle School Drinking Water: A Review of the Health Implications, Northwest Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit (PDF download)

Science & Public Policy: Arsenic in Drinking Water, Environmental Health News Autumn 2001

Research

Graduate Students

Heather Bost, MS (2004): A comparison of West Nile Virus vector mosquito populations in sites with and without storm water drainage ponds (John Scott Meschke)

Nicola (Nicky) Josephs, MS (2004): An evaluation of the utility of F+RNA coliphages for source tracking pathogens in environmental waters (John Scott Meschke)

Laura McLaughlin, MS (2006): Chlorine and UV-disinfection as drinking water treatment options for rural areas of less developed countries (John Scott Meschke)

Anayi Norman, MS (2004): Use of PBPK models to characterize dermal absorption of volatile organic compounds from water (John Kissel)

Karen Takatani, MS (2005): Persistence of E. coli O157:H7, S. typhimurium, and Coliphage MS2 in a model home water system after ultraviolet (UV) disinfection treatment (John Scott Meschke)

Amanda Zych, MS (2003): Identifying mosquito vector species in stormwater drainage ponds in King County, Washington (Charles Treser)

Peer-Reviewed Publications

Bates MN, Rey OA, Biggs ML, Hopenhayn C, Moore LE, Kalman D, Steinmaus C, Smith AH. Case-control study of bladder cancer and exposure to arsenic in Argentina. Am J Epidemiol 2004; 159 (4): 381–389.

Doi A, Pham R, Hughes E, Barber DS, Gallagher E. Molecular cloning and characterization of a glutathione S-transferase in largemouth bass liver that is involved in the detoxification of 4-hydroxynonenal. Biochem Pharmacol 2004; 67(11):2129–2139.

Gallagher EP. Using salmonid microarrays to understand the dietary modulation of carcinogenesis in rainbow trout. Toxicol Sci. 2006 Mar;90(1):1

Henson KA, Gallagher EP. Glutathione S- transferase expression in pollution-associated hepatic lesions of brown bullheads (Ameriurus nebulosus) from the Cuyahoga River, Cleveland, Ohio. Toxicol Sci 2004; 80(1):26–33.

Hughes EM, Gallagher EP. Effects of 4-nonylphenol and 17 beta-estradiol on phase two antioxidant gene expression in largemouth bass liver. Comparative Biochem Physiol 2004; 137:237–247.

Hughes, EM and Gallagher EP. Effect of beta-naphthoflavone on biotransformation gene expression and glutathione biosynthesis in largemouth bass liver. Mar Environ Res 2004; 58:675–679.

Judd NL, Griffith WC, Faustman EM. Consideration of cultural and lifestyle factors in defining susceptible populations for environmental disease. Toxicology 2004; 198(1-3):121–133.

Judd NL, Griffith WC, Faustman EM. Contribution of PCB Exposure from fish consumption to total dioxin-like dietary exposure. Regul Toxicol Pharmacol 2004; 40(2):125-135.

Kashinkunti RD, Metz H, Linden KG, Shin G, Sobsey MD, Moran M, Samuelson A. Investigating multibarrier inactivation for Cincinnati—UV, by-products, and biostability. J Am Water 2004; 96(6): 114–127.

Maxfield M, Daniell WE, Treser CD, VanDerslice J. An evaluation of treated effluent quality of aerobic residential on-site sewage systems. J Environ Health 2003; 66(3):14–20.

Meschke JS, Sobsey MD. Comparative reduction of Norwalk virus, poliovirus Type 1, F+ RNA coliphage MS2, and Escherichia coli in miniature soil columns. Water Sci Technol 2003; 47(3):85–90.

Pham RT, Barber DS, Gallagher EP. GSTA is the major gene responsible for 4-hydroxynonenal metabolism in largemouth bass liver. Marine Environmental Res 2004; 58:485–488.

Sechena R, Liao S, Lorenzana R, Nakano C, Polissar N, Fenske R. Asian American and Pacific Islander seafood consumption—a community-based study in King County, Washington. J Exposure Anal Environ Epidemiol 2003; 13:256–266.

Sepulveda M, Gallagher EP, Gross TS. Effects of pulp mill effluents on health and reproductive parameters and in largemouth bass. Environ Sci Technol 2004; 57:431–440.

Sepulveda MS, Gallagher EP, Wieser CM, Gross TS. Reproductive and biochemical biomarkers in largemouth bass sampled downstream of a pulp and paper mill in Florida. Ecotoxicol Environ Saf 2004; 57(3):431–440.

Shin G, Faubert K, Linden G, and Sobsey MD. 2005. Inactivation of G. lamblia cysts in real field waters. Journal of Water and Environment Technology. 3 (1): 41-45.

Shin G, Linden KG, Sobsey MD. Low pressure inactivation of pathogenic enteric viruses and bacteriophages. Environ Engin Sci 2004; 4(S1):S7-S11(1).

Shin G, Sobsey MD. Reduction of Norwalk virus, poliovirus 1 and coliphage MS2 by ozone disinfection of water. Appl Environ Microbiol 2003; 69(7): 3975–3978.

Shin G, Linden KG, Sobsey MD. Low pressure inactivation of pathogenic enteric viruses and bacteriophages. Environ Engin Sci 2004; 4(S1):S7-S11(1).

Steinmaus CM, George CM, Kalman DA, Smith AH. Evaluation of two new arsenic field test kits capable of detecting arsenic water concentrations close to 10 microg/L. Environ Sci Technol. 2006 May 15;40(10):3362-3366.

Conference Presentations

Lee J-K, Freeman R, Cangelosi G, Shin G-A. Inactivation of Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) by ultraviolet irradiation, American Society for Microbiology, May 21–15, 2006, Orlando, Florida

McLaughlin LA, Levy K, Beck NK, Smith JA, Eisenberg JN, Meschke JS. Laboratory efficacy compared to household effectiveness of chlorine use in rural coastal Ecuador, American Society for Microbiology, May 21–15, 2006, Orlando, Florida

Meschke JS. Shellfish-associated viral illness and fecal loading in Puget Sound, UW/UBC 19th Annual Occupational and Environmental Health Conference, January 8-9, 2007, Semiahmoo, Washington

Meschke JS, Kissel JC, Beck NK, Shirai JH, Smith JA. Assessment of norovirus exposure from consumption of Puget Sound shellfish impacted by large vessel wastewater discharges, Society of Risk Analysis, Baltimore, December 3-6, 2006

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Other Resources

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