Nephrotoxicity of uranium in drinking water from private drilled wells

Uranium in drinking-water: A unique case of guideline value increases and discrepancies between chemical and radiochemical guidelines

“…This higher guideline value is mainly sourced from recent human studies from Finland (Kurttio et al, , 2005(Kurttio et al, , 2006, Sweden (Selden et al, 2009) and the USA (Zamora et al, 2009). In all of these no adverse effects were reported, even when uranium concentrations in drinking-water approached or exceeded 100 μg/L, although the number of individuals was relatively small.…”

“…Most of the studies focused on the nephrotoxicity of uranium using cross sectional study design. In total, four major studies were carried out: in Canada (Zamora et al, 1998;Mao et al, 1995), in Finland , and in Sweden (Selden et al, 2009). The uranium concentrations in water were fairly similar in all the studies, with median concentrations in the range of 20-30 μg/L among the exposed groups.…”

Radioactivity, Geochemistry, and Health

“…During the period of operation from 1951 to 1958, an estimated 310 000 kg of airborne uranium was released, and 99 000 kg was released to surface water. Several ecological epidemiological studies examined possible associations between elevated levels of uranium in drinking water and indication of renal dysfunction (Kurttio et al, 2002;Limson-Zamora et al, 1998Mao et al, 1995;Selden et al, 2009). In some, but not all of the studies, associations between biomarkers of degraded kidney function (e.g., urine levels of albumin, b2-microglobulin, glucose, and protein HC and elevated uranium levels in drinking water were observed.…”

Potential Health Risks from Uranium in Home Well Water: An Investigation by the Apsaalooke (Crow) Tribal Research Group

“…However, most of the key studies of health effects from drinking uranium contaminated water have been conducted in other countries [4,[6][7][8]. In the United States, naturally occurring elevated uranium in groundwater has been identified as a widespread issue in Western states, as well as in scattered locations in Eastern states [2,9].…”