Thursday, May 2, 2024
5/2/2024
This project supports efforts to strengthen environmental health capacity in Maine, by developing new environmental health data and informatics tools that can be used for decision-making, by addressing environmental health hazards, and by assessing the effectiveness of environmental health interventions in order to develop best practices. More specifically, this project is primarily focused on building Maine’s capacity to address the environmental health priority of exposure to naturally-occurring chemical contaminants, such as arsenic, uranium, and radon, that are commonly found in well water in Maine. Maine is among a handful of U.S. states having exceptionally high reliance on private wells for drinking water: 51% of Maine households use their own well water supply. At a person level, this represents approximately 725,000 individuals living in homes using private well water. Private domestic wells in Maine are largely unregulated and the burden is on homeowners to test their well water for safety and mitigate any hazards. More than 10% of private wells have arsenic levels above the drinking water standard for public water supplies of 10 parts per billion (ppb), and 5% have levels above the standard for uranium of 30 ppb. Maine has identified wells as high as 3,000 ppb arsenic, 6,000 ppb uranium, and 16 parts per million fluoride. Arsenic is especially worrisome as it is a known human carcinogen with the estimated cancer risk from lifetime exposure to 10 ppb arsenic approaching 1-in-1,000. Furthermore, there is emerging evidence that arsenic also causes an increase in cardiovascular disease, and has neurotoxic effects in young children resulting in loss of intellectual function. Despite the significant usage of private wells, widespread contamination levels, and well-documented and serious health outcomes associated with arsenic and other contaminants, many Maine wells have not been tested or are not regularly tested. About 60% of all households with wells in Maine have ever tested their well water for arsenic; among well water reliant households with income less than $15,000 per year, only 35% have tested their well water for arsenic. This project will build on Maine’s foundation of expertise and previous private well water initiatives through strategies and activities to expand available data describing well water contamination at the state and local level, identify and compile new environmental health data to support priority setting and interventions, conduct interventions to promote well water safety and testing, and assess interventions to build an evidence base and best practices. The following outcomes are expected by the end of the five-year project: 1. Increased number of addressed, prevented, and controlled environmental health hazards; 2. Field has more access to evidence on effectiveness of environmental health interventions; and 3. Increased efficiency and effectiveness of environmental health interventions to address environmental health hazards.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).
