Citation

Gunduz O, Bakar C, Simsek C, Baba A, Elci A, Gurleyuk H, Mutlu M, Cakir A. Arch. Environ. Occup. Health 2014; 70(1): 35-46.

Affiliation

a Department of Environmental Engineering, School of Engineering , Dokuz Eylul University , Izmir , Turkey.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2014, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/19338244.2013.872076

PMID

24455995

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to compare the causes of death in five villages situated in Simav Plain, Turkey during 2005-2010 where different arsenic levels were detected in drinking water supplies. Since groundwater in Simav plain had arsenic concentrations that ranged between 7.1 and 833.9 ppb, a two phase research was formulated. In the first phase, public health surveys were conducted with 1003 villagers to determine the distribution of diseases. In the second phase, verbal autopsy surveys and official death records were used to investigate the causes of death. Totally, 402 death cases were found in the study area where cardiovascular system diseases (44%) and cancers (15.2%) were major causes. Cancers of lung (44.3%), prostate (9.8%), colon (9.8%) and stomach (8.2%) were comparably higher in villages with high arsenic levels in drinking water supplies. Furthermore, the majority of cases of liver, bladder and stomach cancers were observed in villages with high arsenic levels.

Language: en