A possible link between Balkan endemic nephropathy and the leaching of toxic organic compounds from Pliocene lignite by groundwater: preliminary investigation

Orem, William H.; Feder, Gerald L.; Finkelman, Robert B.

doi:10.1016/s0166-5162(98)00071-8

Cited by 61 publications

(61 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…Follow-on studies have compared characteristics of water samples from BEN and non-BEN villages, and attempted to relate these observations to the proposed hypothesis (Feder et al, 1991;Goldberg et al, 1994;Orem et al, 1999;Tatu et al, 2000). This approach is limited by a fundamental constraint in that the general hypothesis is probably not directly testable because at present there is no unambiguous indicator of coal leachate contamination in drinking water.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Goldberg et al (1994) reported that excitation/ emission matrix (EEM) fluorescence spectra produced by groundwater samples showed differences between BEN and non-BEN households within an endemic village, with elongated teardrop shapes being found in BEN samples. Orem et al (1999) reported the presence of potentially toxic aromatic compounds, such as naphthalene, fluorene, phenanthrene, and pyrene at concentrations in the mg/l range in two water samples from endemic villages and one water sample collected in a non-endemic village in Serbia. Higher concentrations were observed in the two BEN-village samples.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…aliphatic hydrocarbons, aromatic hydrocarbons and phenols) are listed based on matches to the mass-spectral NIST library (Orem et al, 2004). Numerous organic compounds have been suggested as causative agents under the Pliocene lignite hypothesis, but the PAH class of compounds are the most frequently cited (Feder et al, 1991;Tatu et al, 1998Tatu et al, , 2000Orem et al, 1999).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Evaluation of the hypothesis that Balkan endemic nephropathy is caused by drinking water exposure to contaminants leaching from Pliocene coal deposits

Voice

McElmurry

Long

et al. 2006

J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol

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Balkan endemic nephropathy (BEN) is a kidney disease that has been reported in only certain rural villages in Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia and Bosnia. The cause of BEN remains a mystery, but researchers seem to agree that exposure to one or more environmental agents is at least partially responsible. The Pliocene lignite hypothesis suggests the disease is due to long-term exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) or other toxic organic compounds that have leached into drinking water supplies from low-rank coals. Although this hypothesis has been promoted by some researchers, efforts to substantiate it have been inconclusive due to limitations in sample size and methodology. The present study was designed to further examine this hypothesis by analyzing PAHs, which were implicated in the original hypothesis, in a larger number of water samples from endemic and nonendemic villages in Bulgaria and for other chemical differences between the villages. Results show that levels of all PAHs were low, with none exceeding the drinking water standard for benzo-[a]-pyrene, the most toxic PAH, and the only one for which a maximum contaminant level (MCL) has been set for drinking water. Comparison of additional unidentified chromatographic peaks from high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) technique designed to detect dissolved organic compounds (DOCs) that leach from coal failed to show higher levels in BEN villages. This study finds no basis to connect PAHs or other unknown DOCs to the etiology of BEN, and suggests that the evidence in support of the Pliocene lignite hypothesis is limited to the spatial association originally proposed.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Evaluation of the hypothesis that Balkan endemic nephropathy is caused by drinking water exposure to contaminants leaching from Pliocene coal deposits

Voice

McElmurry

Long

et al. 2006

J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol

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“…Some of the more hydrophobic organic compounds present in surface and recharge waters will be sorbed onto the aquifer solids. Deeper and older waters may contain organic material which has been mobilised from the aquifer matrix (Grøn et al, 1996, Orem et al 1999) such as lower molecular weight compounds resulting from kerogen degradation or bitumen dissolution.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Orem et al, 1999). There is however no general standard or guideline value for the total contents of organic carbon in groundwater.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Organic Quality of Groundwaters

Gooddy

Hinsby

2008

Natural Groundwater Quality

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Organic carbon is present in all natural waters and plays an important role in many geochemical processes. Total organic carbon (TOC), measured on unfiltered samples, has been analysed on more than 400 groundwater samples from 8 European Union countries, and the operationally defined dissolved organic carbon (DOC), measured on filtered samples, was analysed on approximately 250 groundwater samples from 4 of these countries. TOC was found at a median concentration of 2.7 mg C/L with a range from 0.1 -59.4 mg C/L and DOC had a median concentration of 2.2 mg C/L with a range from 0.2 -58.9 mg C/L, demonstrating that very high natural organic carbon values can occasionally be found locally in some pristine aquifers. A relationship between the assimilable organic carbon (AOC) utilised by bacteria and TOC is observed although the correlation is not clear. Generally, there is a linear correlation between the TOC, DOC and the chemical oxygen demand (COD) values. Organic contaminants derived from anthropogenic activities are generally not identified in the TOC/DOC analysis as these contaminant concentrations are typically several orders of magnitude lower than the bulk aqueous carbon measurement. TOC/DOC analysis can, however be an important indicator of pollution at landfills, effluent ponds and similar pollution settings with high loads of organic carbon, but in many other situations the total or dissolved organic carbon concentration is not a good tracer or indicator of contamination. However, the total or dissolved organic carbon is a very important component in the biogeochemical cycling of elements and consequently it is recommended as a component to be measured on all groundwater samples. The measurement of a filtered organic carbon fraction is recommended where groundwaters contain significant amounts of particulate material. Measurements of TOC and DOC on the same samples in this study show comparable concentrations, however, the TOC/DOC ratio varied and TOC was not always found to be significantly greater than DOC, as may have been expected. Further investigations are needed to find the reasons for this. Further research is also needed to evaluate what part of the TOC is readily available for biogeochemical processes. Increased knowledge on this issue would help to understand better the development of the different redox environments and associated bacterial regrowth which occurs in water supply systems.

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Background Concentration of Pollutants

Gonçalves¹

2019

Encyclopedia of Water

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Determining background concentration of pollutants in surface and groundwaters is a particularly difficult task, but a most important one because of the definition of water quality standards. A major difficulty resides in the dynamic, transient, nature of water systems and in pollutant dispersion and persistence, making it difficult to define the range of background and baseline concentrations based in a limited number of samples. The factors that determine the water chemistry are briefly discussed with some relevant examples, because it is essential to understand global water chemistry. A distinction between background concentration of inorganic and organic pollutants is made, which is because the former can have both natural and anthropogenic derived sources, whereas the latter are exclusively because of anthropogenic activities. Current practice determines background (as well as baseline) concentrations using a representative set of water samples and applying statistical techniques jointly with historical data, down‐gradient profiles, extrapolation, and geochemical modelling.

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A possible link between Balkan endemic nephropathy and the leaching of toxic organic compounds from Pliocene lignite by groundwater: preliminary investigation

Cited by 61 publications

References 21 publications

Evaluation of the hypothesis that Balkan endemic nephropathy is caused by drinking water exposure to contaminants leaching from Pliocene coal deposits

Evaluation of the hypothesis that Balkan endemic nephropathy is caused by drinking water exposure to contaminants leaching from Pliocene coal deposits

Organic Quality of Groundwaters

Background Concentration of Pollutants

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