Using sales of bottled water, a study investigates how communities in the United States respond to water quality violations. While drinking water contaminants are tracked by the US Environmental Protection Agency, it is unclear whether and how communities limit exposure to contaminated sources. Maura Allaire and colleagues analyzed datasets of weekly bottled water sales and water quality violation records in 2,151 US counties from 2006 to 2015. Violations posing an immediate health risk were associated with a 14% increase in bottled water sales. However, avoidance behaviors differed across communities. Low-income rural communities did not show a significant response to nitrate violations, a potential concern because nitrate contamination is more prevalent in these locations and poses a risk to infants. Compared with immediate risks, violations that pose health concerns after long-term exposure were associated with lower increases in bottled water sales. Pathogen-related violations were associated with greater increases in sales than nitrate violations. Moreover, bottled water sales were higher for repeat violations that are immediate health risks than for first-time violations. The findings suggest that improved public communication may reduce health risks tied to water, according to the authors.
Article #19-05385: "Detecting community response to water quality violations using bottled water sales," by Maura Allaire, Taylor Mackay, Shuyan Zheng, and Upmanu Lall.
MEDIA CONTACT: Maura Allaire, University of California, Irvine, CA; tel: 949-824-5797; email: maura.allaire@uci.edu
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Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences