Contaminated Waters: How Social Demographics Can Be Predictors of Heavy Metals in Community Water Systems

Abstract

Heightened concentrations of heavy metals in community water systems (CWS) is of great concern to US populations, especially vulnerable communities. Research has shown that racial and ethnic minorities, lower income households, people with lower levels of education, and mobile home communities are particularly at risk of harm due to CWS pollutants. The EPA Six Year Review (2012-2019) of arsenic, cadmium, copper, lead, and nitrate concentrations in all public water systems linked to American Community Survey data was used to evaluate counties that have elevated levels of heavy contaminants. The metals are selected for being common heavy metals. I take weighted averages of every CWS pollutant level per county to create a singular Water Contamination Index (WCI), and examine how it is associated with the proportion of racial and ethnic groups, education levels, number of mobile homes, and median household income per county using multiple regression analysis. Findings show a significant association between counties with larger percentages of Hispanic populations and children and higher WCI, as well as larger amounts of arsenic, copper, and nitrate. These findings suggest that certain populations marginalized not only socially but geographically are at a higher risk of exposure to heavy metal contaminants in their water, and they also pave the way for future research that highlights the relationship between geography, water contaminants, and population demographics.