The ANALYSIS of Death Causes DURING 2005-2010 PERIOD In FIVE Villages with High ARSENIC LEVELS In Drinking WATER Supplies, Simav PLAIN, Turkey

Bakar, Coskun

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

B: Aklilu Lema Hall (Millennium Hall)

Orhan Gunduz Dokuz Eylul University, Turkey

Coskun Bakar, Assoc.Prof.Dr. Faculty of Medicine, Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Turkey

Celalettin Simsek Dokuz Eylul University, Torbali Vocational School, Turkey

Alper Baba Department of Civil Engineering, School of Engineering, Izmir Institute of Technology, Turkey

Alper Elci School of Engineering, Dokuz Eylul University, Izmir, TURKEY, Turkey

Hakan Gurleyuk Applied Speciation and Consulting, LLC., USA

Merdiye Mutlu Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences, Dokuz Eylul University, Turkey

Ayse Cakir Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences, Dokuz Eylul University, Turkey

Purpose:The aim of this research is to determine causes of death during 2005-2010 period in villages situated in Simav Plain,Kutahya,Turkey where high arsenic levels were detected in some water supplies.

Materials and Methods:This field study is conducted in villages of Golkoy, Bogazkoy, Citgol, Oreyler and Demircikoy situated in Simav Plain.In a previous water quality monitoring study, arsenic levels exceeding drinking water quality criteria(10μg/L) were detected in first three of these villages where the other two had levels below the criteria. This research was formulated as a two phase study.In the first phase, a public health survey was conducted with 1003 people living in these villages to determine the distribution of diseases.In second phase, verbal oral autopsy surveys coupled with official death records were used to determine the cause of death.

Results:A total of 402 death cases were found within the scope of this study.About 53% of all deaths were male and 81% were above the age of 65.The raw death rate was computed to be 8.3‰.Of all cases, 44% was related to cardiovascular system diseases and 15.2% was due to cancers (determined to be the second important cause of death in study area).Cancers were seen in comparably higher numbers in Golkoy, Bogazkoy and Citgol.However, no statistically significant difference(p>0.05) was detected between five villages.Number of bronchus or lung cancers was highest among other cancers in all villages with 44.3%.Prostate(9.8%), colon(9.8%) and stomach(8.2%) cancers were other predominant cancer types.Deaths related to liver, stomach, bladder and prostate cancers were all detected in three villages with high arsenic levels.

Conclusions:Till 2009, Golkoy and Bogazkoy have used a water supply with arsenic levels exceeding 150µg/L.Although no statistically significant differences were detected in cancer related death causes between the villages, all cases of liver, bladder and stomach cancers were observed in villages with high arsenic levels.

Learning Objectives: This multi-disciplinary research is intended to understand the relationship between water quality and human health with particular reference on arsenic in drinking water supplies. This research is funded by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey through project 109Y029.