Best In Science
Keeping Water Safe for the Navajo Nation
Access to public water is so limited on the Navajo Nation that nearly one in three households relies on untreated water sources. To rectify this problem, CDC is helping federal agencies and the Navajo Nation identify and publicize unsafe water sources and report findings to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, a US government oversight committee composed of congressional members.
Providing access to safe drinking water on Navajo land is particularly costly and problematic because water sources are limited, deep, and highly mineralized. Approximately 30% of Navajo households are not connected to a public water system. In addition, many connected households are reluctant to use public water utilities because of cost or the taste of treated water and choose to haul water instead.
Since 2006, CDC has been working with the Navajo Nation to determine the quality of unregulated water used by Navajo households. In 2008, CDC and the Navajo Environmental Protection Agency (Navajo EPA) completed a survey of 199 unregulated, untreated livestock wells and springs used for drinking water. They found widespread bacterial contamination. Arsenic was identified as the most frequent chemical contaminant of concern (12% of sources exceeded the safe drinking water standard for arsenic) followed by uranium (5% exceeded the safe drinking water standard for uranium).
After identifying specific high-risk communities where the water contained a high concentration of arsenic and uranium, CDC partnered with the Navajo Division of Health, Navajo EPA, and the US EPA to create a health awareness campaign that educates and warns those communities about the health risks of water sources that are particularly unsafe. Additionally, CDC shared findings on uranium water contamination with members of the US House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and is assisting government officials in their five-year action plan to address the impact of uranium contamination with Navajo communities.
Multistate Autism Study
CDC’s Study to Explore Early Development, the largest epidemiology study of its kind, has been launched in the field. This multisite autism research study is an important complement to the other work occurring at federal and academic organizations. Approximately 2,700 children ages two to five years old and their parents are participating in the study in California, Colorado, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania.
The program is collecting data to study a number of factors to increase our understanding of autism. The factors include comparing physical and behavioral characteristics of children with autism, children with other developmental disabilities, and children without a noted developmental delay or disability. Researchers will also look at health conditions among children with and without autism. Finally, they will study factors associated with a child’s risk for developing autism such as genes, health conditions, and other factors that affected the mother’s pregnancy; health and developmental factors during the child’s first few years of life; and the relationship between combined genetic and non-genetic factors. The information is being obtained through interviews, medical exams, medical records; and the collection of cheek swabs, blood samples, and hair samples.
Related Links
State of CDC
Contact Us:
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
1600 Clifton Rd
Atlanta, GA 30333 - 800-CDC-INFO
(800-232-4636)
TTY: (888) 232-6348
24 Hours/Every Day - cdcinfo@cdc.gov
