Whole-house arsenic water treatment provided more effective arsenic exposure reduction than point-of-use water treatment at New Jersey homes with arsenic in well water

Abstract

A comparison of the effectiveness of whole house (point-of-entry) and point-of-use arsenic water treatment systems in reducing arsenic exposure from well water was conducted. The non-randomized observational study recruited 49 subjects having elevated arsenic in their residential home well water in New Jersey. The subjects obtained either point-of-entry or point-of-use arsenic water treatment. Prior ingestion exposure to arsenic in well water was calculated by measuring arsenic concentrations in the well water and obtaining water-use histories for each subject, including years of residence with the current well and amount of water consumed from the well per day. A series of urine samples was collected from the subjects, some starting before water treatment was installed and continuing for at least nine months after treatment had begun. Urine samples were analyzed and speciated for inorganic-related arsenic concentrations. A two-phase clearance of inorganic-related arsenic from urine and the likelihood of a significant body burden from chronic exposure to arsenic in drinking water were identified. After nine months of water treatment the adjusted mean of the urinary inorganic-related arsenic concentrations was significantly lower (p<0.0005) in the point-of-entry treatment group (2.5μg/g creatinine) than in the point-of-use treatment group (7.2μg/g creatinine). The results suggest that whole house arsenic water treatment systems provide a more effective reduction of arsenic exposure from well water than that obtained by point-of-use treatment.