Waterborne Sources

Taints may also be introduced into a food via water in an indirect manner, e.g., the absorption of taints from habitat water by fish and shellfish. There has been a substantial amount of work on taints in fish and shellfish due to water contamination [17]. Fish are very susceptible to absorbing chanicals from their environment resulting in a taint. The taint may come from water pollution (chemical) or bacterial growth in the water. 

In terms of fish tainting from pollution. Vale et al. [18] and Shipton et al. [19] have reported finding a kerosene taint in mullet. The tainted mullet were found to contain high levels of hydrocarbons from polluted waters. Bemelmans and den Braber [20] reported an iodine-like taint in herring from the Baltic Sea. They traced this taint to o-bromophenol. While the source of the o-bromophenol was not determined, it is possible that it came from industrial water pollution. 

The ease with which ch icals are absorbed into fish (particularly fresh water fish) is a major problan facing aquaculture. While water pollution is not typically 

FIGURE 7.2 Geosmin (tra/w-l,10-dimethyl-franj-9-decalol1 (left) and 2-methylisoborneol (right), causes of musty, earthy taints in water. 

Some taint problems appearing in the literature from water sources are presented in Table 7.2. The causes of these taints are quite diverse. 

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A site suspected to contain a waterborne source of radon should not be avoided solely on the basis of the existence of radon. Methods can be utilized to alleviate any problem that may arise from waterborne radon. 

Another outbreak occurred in British Columbia, Canada in 1995, and 110 acute toxoplasmosis cases were identified. The epidemiological studies demonstrated that the outbreak was consistent with a waterborne source and implicated contaminated municipal drinking water (Bowie et al., 1997). 

There are many peer-review publications reporting NoV outbreaks due to food and water. In spite of a recognized publication bias toward these outbreaks, there is a consensus that the scientific literature imder-estimates the contribution of NoV to food and waterborne disease (Efall et al., 2005 Hoffmann et al., 2007 O Brien et al., 2006). Source contamination of food and water is clearly implicated in NoV outbreaks around the world. 

Wastewater treatment systems can be a significant source of cross-media pollutant transfer. For example, waterborne particulates and some chlorinated compounds settle or absorb onto treatment sludge and other compounds may volatilize during the wastewater treatment process. 

Builders should be aware that wells can be a potential problem. The only way to ensure that a well is not a potential radon source is to have the water tested after the well is drilled. It is not adequate to make a decision based on tests made in wells in the same area or even on adjoining building sites. A recent research project disclosed two homes with water radon concentrations of over 400,000 pCi/L, while the well used at a house between the two had waterborne radon concentrations of less than 1000 pCi/L.18 It should be understood that, when considering waterborne radon, the concentrations that concern us are much higher than when we are considering radon in the air. As a rule of thumb, between 8000 and 10,000 pCi/L of radon in the water will contribute 1 pCi/L of radon to the air. 

Dietary copper is more important than waterborne copper in reducing the survival and growth of rainbow trout larvae (Woodward et al. 1994). Simultaneous exposure of rainbow trout to dietary and waterborne copper results in significant copper assimilation. Diet is the main source of tissue copper however, the contribution of waterborne Cu to tissue burdens increases as water concentrations rise (Miller et al. 1993). 

Clark, J.R., J.M. Patrick, Jr., J.C. Moore, and E.M. Lores. 1987. Waterborne and sediment-source toxicities of six organic chemicals to grass shrimp (Palaemonetes pugio) and amphioxus (Branchiostoma carib-aeum). Arch. Environ. Contam. Toxicol. 16 401-407. 

The quality of life mankind has come to expect often comes with a cost to the environment, which includes the adverse effects of chemical contaminants. These contaminants are global in nature and are of increasing concern. The sources of anthropogenic pollution are legion and all too often the release of contaminants into environmental systems is considered an unavoidable cost of development. As a result, many areas of the global environment are under stress from a broad array of chemicals, both waterborne and airborne. 

The most frequent causes of diseases are toxins produced by bacteria. It is estimated that between three and five billion people suffer from poisonings or toxicoinfections annually and about three million die. Bacteria mainly affect children and in most cases water is the source of infection (bacterial waterborne diseases). Children mostly die due to dehydration and electrolyte imbalance. The majority of children s diarrheas affect infants fed infant formula and so who are not protected by elements of specific immunity transmitted from their mothers. 

All point source and nonpoint source wastewaters at an industrial site must be properly managed for source separation, waste minimization, volume reduction, collection, pretreatment, and/or complete end-of-pipe treatment [39,47]. When industrial waste is not disposed of properly, hazardous substances may contaminate a nearby surface water (river, lake, sea, or ocean) and/or groundwater. Any hazardous substance release, either intentionally or unintentionally, increases the risk of water supply contamination and human disease. Major waterborne contaminants and their health effects are listed below. 

An adequate supply of clean, potable WATER is one of the primary requirements for good health. Traditionally, health hazards associated with water have been the classic waterborne diseases, namely, typhoid, cholera, and hepatitis. The advent, advancement, and practice of the science of bacteriology after the late 18th century led to the recognition of the causes and sources of these diseases, which resulted in the development of disinfection processes and in the recognition of the necessity to prevent public potable water sources from pollution from sewage and postdisinfection contamination. 

Another common source of groundwater pollution is sewage, which includes drainage from septic tanks and inadequate or broken sewer lines. Animal sewage, especially from factory-style animal farms, is also a source of groundwater (and river water) pollution. Sewage water contains bacteria, which if untreated can cause waterborne diseases such as typhoid, cholera, and infectious hepatitis. If the contaminated groundwater travels relatively quickly... 

From time immemorial, surface water played a pivotal role to human life as a source of drinking water because of its easy access compared with any other water source. A few decades ago, the use of contaminated surface water sources was found to contribute to the transmission of waterborne bacterial diseases. Thus, a paradigm shift in water usage from surface to groundwater was inevitable. 

As sediments act as pollutant sinks in aquatic systems, they can be important sources of exposure, and so of the entry of chemicals into aquatic food chains. Sediments are the ultimate residence location for many pollutants released to water. The widespread presence of complex mixtures of contaminants in sediment is thus likely to occur in any location where multiple localized and diffuse contaminant sources contribute to the overall chemical load within natural waters. The role of sediment in the receipt and resupply of the chemical to the water phase means that there is interest in monitoring sediment chemical pollutant load over both different spatial and temporal scales. Because the process of sediment deposition and chemical adsorption on the one hand and solubilization and resuspension on the other link the pollutant loads of the sediment and water column, many of the species that can be used to sample the environment for waterborne pollutants (e.g., filter feeders such as mussels) can also describe the pollutant load present in sediments (Baumard et al. 1998). 

Microbial hazards make the largest contribution to waterborne disease in developed and developing countries, Nevertheless, chemicals in water supplies can cause serious health problems - whether the chemicals are naturally occurring or derive from sources of pollution. At a global scale, fluoride and arsenic are the most significant chemicals, each affecting perhaps millions of people, However, many other chemicals can be important contaminants of drinking-water under specific local conditions. 

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