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2006 Grant Recipients
The Institute
for Public Health and Water Research (IPWR) is a not-for-profit,
independent science and education organization. The mission
of IPWR is to promote research and education on: the value
of drinking quality water in the improvement of health and
the impact and health implications of consuming contaminated
water. IPWR provides scientific direction, funds and other
support to investigators to encourage research, publications
and meetings in these areas.
Project Abstracts IPWR
Fellow: Benjamin
Arnold, MPH Numerous controlled trials in recent years have demonstrated that methods of point-of-use (household) water treatment dramatically reduce diarrhea among users, and may be an important strategy for providing safe water to millions of people worldwide. The main limitation of point-of-use water treatment research to date is that there have been no rigorous evaluations of the interventions' sustainability over periods longer than one year. Then principal aim of this study is to evaluate the use and effectiveness of household solar water disinfection four years into a large-scale community intervention. I will address this aim with a cross-sectional cohort study, in which I will sample approximately 600 households (1,200 children <5 years) from communities that have and have not been included in the intervention. With help from staff at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) field station in Guatemala, I will collect diarrhea incidence data retrospectively. We will also collect continued use of non-use of the SODIS intervention. This pilot study will be the first scientific evaluation of the sustainability of point-of-use water treatment interventions of any kind. Measurements of intervention use and diarrhea incidence among users and non-users will inform directly a future, large-scale sustainability study in the region. IPWR
Fellow: Brenda Davy, Ph.D., RD Weight gain is common with advancing age, and the prevalence of obesity in middle aged and older adults is greater than the general population. Thus, effective strategies for weight management in this population are clearly needed. Our pilot data indicate that older adults spontaneously reduce their caloric intake at an ad-libitum meal following the consumption of 16 fl oz of water. However, the effectiveness of increased water consumption as a weight loss strategy has not been determined. The purpose of this investigation is to determine if pre-meal water consumption will accelerate weight loss in older overweight and obese individuals (aged 60-75y) consuming a low-calorie diet. We will also determine if the acute reduction in meal caloric intake in response to water ingestion is sustained following weight loss in older overweight and obese adults. Participants will be assigned to one of two groups for 12 weeks: 1) low-calorie diet + 16 fl oz water prior to each daily meal, or 2) low calorie diet alone. Body weight/composition, caloric intake and urine output will be monitored throughout the intervention. For the acute meal studies, participants will undergo two conditions 30 minutes prior to an ad-libitum test meal: 1) 16 fl oz. water, and 2) no water. Caloric intake and ratings of hunger, fullness and thirst will be measured. These results will determine the effectiveness of pre-meal water consumption as a weight reduction strategy, the ability of water consumption to reduce caloric intake at a meal, and whether this response is sustained over time. IPWR
Research Investigator: Andrea Dietrich, Ph.D. Our research will provide critical information on the perception of metallic flavor and its impact on human nutrition and consumption of water. Metallic flavor can be a problem in drinking water and may reduce water consumption by the public. We hypothesize that the metallic flavor formation is not only due to the taste of metal ions but also due to production of metal-catalyzed odors in the mouth that create a retronasal effect. Specifically, lipid oxidation of oral cell membrane phospholipids by the metal ions can produce volatile carbonyls which cause metallic flavors and odors. Our interdisciplinary approach combines expertise in food oxidation and off-flavors, water chemistry, cell biology, and human perception. We will investigate the role of the micronutrients iron and copper in oral lipid oxidation and associated carbonyl formation from drinking water with these metals. Determination of volatile compounds in the mouth will require analysis with solid-phase microextraction in conjunction with gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry and odor detector. Studies with human subjects will be augmented with in-vitro experiments with cultured epithelial cells. The research will also evaluate preventative measures with antioxidants to prevent metallic flavor production. Lastly, the research will compare the sensory thresholds, recommended nutritional levels, and adverse health effect levels of iron and copper in water to evaluate needs and inconsistencies. As discussed above, metallic flavor is an important yet unexplored concept for water and even cancer patients. If the mechanism of the production of metallic flavor is discovered, then preventive methods can be taken accordingly. IPWR
Research Investigator: Maria Elena Figueroa, Ph.D. In Indonesia, more than 100 million people lack access to safe water, diarrheal disease is the second leading killer of children under five and boiling water is the preferred household treatment method. The national commercial launch of Air RahMat, a chlorine-based point-of-use water treatment, provides a unique opportunity to examine the effectiveness of this treatment in a real-world context. Health impact evaluations of this type of product have typically been efficacy studies, examining free product provided in a controlled environment with substantial investment to ensure product uptake. The proposed research will document the health benefits of Air RahMat and will seek to understand the link between these benefits and the necessary behavior changes related to safe water and hygiene practices. It will use a multi-method approach including: a) a prospective cohort design with baseline and endline interviews one year apart; b) ethnographic data collection about household and community hygiene practices; c) monitoring of children’s health indicators; and d) a population-based survey at the end of the first and second years of the program to assess overall effect. Data will be analyzed using generalized estimating equation models as well as multivariate regression, path analysis, and propensity score models. Findings will provide information about the health benefits of safe water interventions in a non-experimental context and will help refine safe water interventions worldwide. IPWR
Fellow: Daniel Oerther, Ph.D., PE , BCEE Annually, more than one million children die from preventable waterborne diarrheal disease. Although centralized water collection, treatment, and distribution technologies are well characterized in developed countries, there exists a barrier to their adoption in emerging economies. Often, this barrier is believed to be the cost of treatment; but based upon personal observations during a Fulbright visit to India from Jan-June 06, the Principal Investigator HYPOTHESIZES that the barrier for adoption for the one billion people in India is the preference to pay for services on an individual basis. Indian society’s tendency toward ‘self-reliance’ offers major resistance to adoption of existing ‘western’ technology for providing safe water. The OBJECTIVE of this project is to determine cost effective, reliable technologies for sustainable potable water production for India (e.g., to develop an India-appropriate solution; rather than to force an adoption of ‘western’ technology). Thus, scalable (e.g., from one to fifteen connection) Point of Use (POU) technologies delivering high quality drinking water will be the focus of this project. The APPROACH will include a survey of: (1) drinking water sources and storage; (2) existing POUs for treatment; (3) health outcomes; and (4) mode of environmental health education for Indians in urban, suburban, and rural areas around Bangalore. Predominant technologies identified in the survey will be validated in laboratory-scale studies for removal of fluoride, arsenic, and pathogens. The EXPECTED RESULTS include identification and validation of appropriate scalable POUs to deliver safe drinking water for India that can be used in small rural villages as well as urban high rise condominiums. IPWR
Fellow: Sylvia Struck, Ph.D. Candidate Access to water is based on power and social relationships, but often viewed in economic terms in government policy. The proposed research will address how the Ugandan poverty eradication policy has impacted access to water for a marginalized group and the important social dimensions around access to water that are not always well understood or addressed, particularly in government policy. Collaborating with Mbarara University and the National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO), the research sets out to document how the Hima employ social mechanisms to access water in light of the Government’s poverty eradication policy and efforts to settle the Hima with restricted land and water by using semi-structured interviews, social and resource mapping, historical review and policy analysis. The outcome of the research seeks to understand how the poor or marginalized gain access and control over water and how institutional mechanisms facilitate or discourage people’s access to water, how social mechanisms act in concert or independently of these mechanisms, and what governance arrangements are required to work towards meeting the Millennium Development Goals of a sustainable increase in water access.
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