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. 2022 Jul;14(13):2088.
doi: 10.3390/w14132088. Epub 2022 Jun 29.

Developing Toxic Metal Environmental Justice Indices (TM-EJIs) for Arsenic, Cadmium, Lead, and Manganese Contamination in Private Drinking Wells in North Carolina

Noemi Gavino-Lopez  1 , Lauren A Eaves  1   2 , Adam E Enggasser  1   2 , Rebecca C Fry  1   2
Affiliations

Developing Toxic Metal Environmental Justice Indices (TM-EJIs) for Arsenic, Cadmium, Lead, and Manganese Contamination in Private Drinking Wells in North Carolina

Noemi Gavino-Lopez et al. Water (Basel). 2022 Jul.

Abstract

Toxic metal exposure via private drinking wells is an environmental health challenge in North Carolina (NC). Policies tainted by environmental racism shape who has access to public water supplies, with Black People, Indigenous People, and People of Color (BIPOC) often excluded from municipal services. Thus, toxic metal exposure via private wells is an environmental justice (EJ) issue, and it is under-studied in NC. In this study, we developed four Toxic Metal Environmental Justice Indices (TM-EJIs) for inorganic arsenic (iAs), cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), and manganese (Mn) to quantitatively identify areas of environmental injustice in NC. TM-EJIs were calculated at the census tract level (n = 2038) as the product of the following: (1) number of well water tests with concentrations exceeding national standards, (2) percentage of the low-income and minority population, and (3) population density. Mn had the greatest proportion (25.17%) of positive TM-EJIs, which are indicative of socioeconomically disadvantaged groups exposed to toxic metals. Positive TM-EJIs, particularly for Pb and Mn, were primarily located in eastern NC. These results highlight several new counties of concern and can be used by public health professionals and state environmental agencies to prioritize remediation efforts and efforts to reduce environmental injustices.

Keywords: environmental justice; private wells; toxic metals.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript; or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Mathematical formula for TM-EJIs, a product of an environmental indicator, a demographic index, and a census tract’s population (* indicates a multiplication factor).
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Distribution of EJIs for the four contaminants of interest: inorganic arsenic (iAs), cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), and manganese (Mn). Positive EJIs represent contamination in disadvantaged areas.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
A map of North Carolina representing locations of (a) inorganic arsenic, (b) cadmium, (c) lead, and (d) manganese EJ Indices at the census tract level within counties. Dark colors indicate metal contamination in disadvantaged (low income/large minority population) census tracts, light areas indicate metal contamination in less disadvantaged (high income/small minority population) census tracts, and white areas indicate no contamination.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Counties with the highest EJIs for (a) inorganic arsenic, (b) cadmium, (c) lead, and (d) manganese contamination of private wells. Positive EJIs represent contamination in disadvantaged areas.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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