Possible linkages between lignite aquifers, pathogenic microbes, and renal pelvic cancer in northwestern Louisiana, USA

Abstract

In May and September, 2002, 14 private residential drinking water wells, one dewatering well at a lignite mine, eight surface water sites, and lignite from an active coal mine were sampled in five Parishes of northwestern Louisiana, USA. Using a geographic information system (GIS), wells were selected that were likely to draw water that had been in contact with lignite; control wells were located in areas devoid of lignite deposits. Well water samples were analyzed for pH, conductivity, organic compounds, and nutrient and anion concentrations. All samples were further tested for presence of fungi (cultures maintained for up to 28 days and colonies counted and identified microscopically) and for metal and trace element concentration by inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometry and atomic emission spectrometry. Surface water samples were tested for dissolved oxygen and presence of pathogenic leptospiral bacteria. The Spearman correlation method was used to assess the association between the endpoints for these field/laboratory analyses and incidence of cancer of the renal pelvis (RPC) based on data obtained from the Louisiana Tumor Registry for the five Parishes included in the study. Significant associations were revealed between the cancer rate and the presence in drinking water of organic compounds, the fungi Zygomycetes, the nutrients PO(4) and NH(3), and 13 chemical elements. Presence of human pathogenic leptospires was detected in four out of eight (50%) of the surface water sites sampled. The present study of a stable rural population examined possible linkages between aquifers containing chemically reactive lignite deposits, hydrologic conditions favorable to the leaching and transport of toxic organic compounds from the lignite into the groundwater, possible microbial contamination, and RPC risk.

Self-Reported Cancer Rates in Two Rural Areas of West Virginia with and Without Mountaintop Coal Mining

“…Environmental pollution contributes to cancer risk [31][32][33][34][35], and many chemicals that are present in coal, coal strata, and coal processing activities are established or possible carcinogens. Arsenic, for example, is an impurity present in coal that is implicated in many forms of cancer including that of skin, bladder and kidney [31,36].…”

Limitations and plausibility of the Pliocene lignite hypothesis in explaining the etiology of Balkan endemic nephropathy

“…6 Provided that the necessary hydrogeologic conditions for leaching and transportation of the organic compounds from the deposits to wells and springs have been met, a BENlike kidney disease may still exist unrecognized, e.g., in developed countries due to population mobility, and/or too small an area affected (such as coal stored next to a power plant 30 ), and in undeveloped areas, i.e., Burma and rural China, due to inadequacies in the medical infrastructure for correct diagnoses. 6 Furthermore, as more data becomes available, more possible links may be supported, e.g., an interstitial nephropathy similar to BEN has been described in Greece; 22 in Louisiana and Wyoming, USA, kidney disease and renal pelvic cancer may be associated with coal deposits, including lignites; 58,75 and in Texas, USA 76 and northern Portugal, 77 renal disease may also be associated with lignites. Thus, the restricted disease distribution of BEN to the Balkans may be due to the distinct organic compound composition of the regional organic-rich leachable rocks and sediment (including, of course, Pliocene lignites), which are unique with respect to petrological and organic geochemistry reflecting differences in the for instance, peat forming vegetation and paleoenvironment as a result of the limiting paleogeographic coal-forming conditions in the Tertiary swamps during the Pliocene, 27 coupled with the right hydrological, demographical, and medical infrastructure conditions.…”

“…44,[52][53][54] However, ochratoxin A contamination has been found in both endemic and nonendemic regions, 22,55,56 nonaffected households, 57 and in Romania, no ochratoxin A or its degradation products were detected in the urine of BEN patients, 58 raising doubts about its role in the etiology of the disease. Likewise, Aristolochia plants are ubiquitous, 24 and Aristolochia contamination has occurred in nonendemic areas of BEN affected countries.…”

Environmentally-related health impacts of coal seam gas development: An impact assessment approach in Queensland, Australia

“…In the southern United States, Bunnell et al (2006) examined cancer registries and well water samples and noted significant associations between renal pelvic cancer rates and hydrocarbons and/or microbes associated with kidney disease. Such hydrocarbons and microbes were found at higher levels in the water sources of known lignite or coal deposits (Bunnell et al, 2006).…”

“…Such hydrocarbons and microbes were found at higher levels in the water sources of known lignite or coal deposits (Bunnell et al, 2006). In an attempt to provide an indicator of human cancer mortality rates, Hitt & Hendryx (2010) characterised ecological integrity of streams and examined this in conjunction with cancer mortality rates.…”