Lead Contaminated Water and Pregnancy: An intervention to improve knowledge, slcilis and behaviors related to safe water consumption
Callaway, Korbyn
2018-12-30
Abstract
Background: In April 2014, Flint, Michigan, under state-appointed emergency management, changed its water supply from Detroit-supplied Lake Huron water to the Flint River temporarily as a means for anticipating a new pipeline to Lake Huron in 2016. The water from the Flint River which contained high chloride levels, and no corrosion inhibitor (orthophosphate), was more corrosive than the Detroit water which contained low levels of chloride and contained a corrosion inhibitor. The Flint water treatment plant did not adequately control for this increased corrosiveness. Flint residents expressed concerns regarding the water's taste, color and odor along with numerous other health complaints including dermal rashes. The Flint River water source was detected with high levels of lead from the water pipes, chloride, a host of bacteria including Escherichia coli. The lack of corrosion control of the Flint River water resulted in lead contamination in household tap water. The accumulation of lead begins during prenatal development and maternal elevated blood lead levels are associated with increased incidence of spontaneous abortion, lower birth weight, and infant mortality. Methods: An online based randomized controlled trial intervention was developed, implemented, and evaluated to increase knowledge and skills related to lead water contamination, and improve behaviors related to safe drinking among females of reproductive age. The 17 participants consisted of women between the ages of 18 to 45 who were University of Michigan - Flint students that were interested in learning about healthy pregnancy and lead. They were invited to participate via email, classroom contact, and flyers. It was emphasized that participation was voluntary. The study included a baseline and follow-up survey for both the intervention and control group and a web-based course that helped educate mothers and women who hoped to be pregnant in the future on how to lessen the effects of lead in the Flint water system. The topics that were incorporated in the course included information on healthy pregnancy, lead water contamination, and information on installation of water filters, cleaning of bathroom aerators, nutrition and activities to counteract/prevent adverse effects of lead. In the randomized control trial each person had the random chance to be assigned to either the intervention group or the control group. Participants in the intervention group completed the baseline survey, the web-based course and the follow-up survey. Participants in the control group completed the baseline and follow-up surveys; then they were able to gain access to the web-based course once the intervention ended. Results: A total of 17 females completed the study. The majority of the participants were White/Caucasian and were non-Hispanic. Also most of the participants resided outside of Flint, were either single-never married, had yearly income of less than $20,000 and had health insurance through their parents. Only 22.2% of the control group participants rated themselves as confident/very confident to install a lead water filter on a kitchen faucet in comparison to 100% of the intervention participants being confident/very confident at followup. At baseline, the control group participants had more initial knowledge overall and they achieved higher scores than the intervention group, but at follow-up, the scores of the control group were significantly lower than the intervention group scores. Conclusion: Knowledge about lead and strategies to prevent exposure to lead from baseline to follow-up increased in the intervention group. The results of this study indicate how much the online course significantly improved the knowledge and skills of women in the intervention group. Therefore, students could further benefit from in-class demonstrations such as installing water filters, cleaning aerators, how to test their water for lead and cooking demonstrations. Students can then use this newfound knowledge to help educate others within the City of Flint and help create better lead education interventions in the future.Subjects
lead exposure water contamination pregnancy intervention prevention
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