PLOS water最新文献

{"title":"Resource allocation for environmental health services in healthcare facilities: A qualitative case study from Niger.","authors":"Silvia Landa, Elisha Y Sanoussi, Ezechiel Mahamane, Kairou Oudou Bilo Mahamadou, Aaron Salzberg, Darcy M Anderson","doi":"10.1371/journal.pwat.0000330","DOIUrl":"10.1371/journal.pwat.0000330","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Water, sanitation, hygiene, waste management, and other environmental health services are critical for safe health systems, but global access is lacking. Adequate financing is a key barrier, and understanding resource allocation can help identify solutions in resource-limited contexts. We conducted a qualitative case examining resource allocation in rural Niger. Our objectives were to understand resource allocation processes, key actors and their roles, and contextual factors that influenced resource allocation. We interviewed thirty-three healthcare workers, community leaders, and government officials. We found that resource allocation followed formal and informal processes. Formal processes encompassed annual budgets and monthly supplies through government channels, while informal processes depended on healthcare workers' out-of-pocket expenses, unpaid labor, in-kind community support, healthcare facility revenue, and contributions from non-governmental and United Nations agencies, and the diaspora. Informal resource allocation was critical to fill the gap when formal processes were slow or insufficient. Resource allocation was highly decentralized with minimal influence of national policies and legal frameworks at the local level. Key contextual factors influencing resource allocation included politicization of budgets at the commune level, sometimes leading to inefficiency or inequity. We observed that healthcare facility actors who were most knowledgeable of needs often held the least decision-making power. We concluded that informal processes were complementary to formal processes, not conflicting. In contexts where government funding is severely limited, informal mechanisms may be the only viable short-term option to ensure the availability of services, demonstrating greater flexibility and adaptability. However, ultimately informal processes are an interim solution that should be explored to ensure service delivery without undermining long-term government systems strengthening. We recommend that funders commit to long-term initiatives promoting local government democratic decision-making, account for local actors' capacities and incentives, and acknowledge dynamic formal and informal resource allocations to optimize investments and trade-offs.</p>","PeriodicalId":93672,"journal":{"name":"PLOS water","volume":"4 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12453085/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145133145","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Testing for heavy metals in drinking water collected from Dog Aging Project participants.","authors":"Courtney L Sexton, Janice O'Brien, Justin Lytle, Sam Rodgers, Amber Keyser, Mandy Kauffman, Matthew D Dunbar, Marc Edwards, Leigh Anne Krometis, Audrey Ruple","doi":"10.1371/journal.pwat.0000296","DOIUrl":"10.1371/journal.pwat.0000296","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Heavy metals are commonly found in groundwater and can affect the quality of drinking water. In this pilot study, we analyzed the quality of drinking water for dogs participating in the Dog Aging Project (DAP) who lived in homes not served by a municipal water supply. In order to capture both diverse and localized environmental factors that may affect drinking water, 200 owners of DAP dogs located in one of 10 selected states were invited to participate. We tested for the presence of 28 metals in dogs' drinking water, including eight (8) heavy metals that have maximum contaminant levels (MCLs) designated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and five (5) heavy metals that have EPA health guidance levels. The eight metals with MCLs are known to cause chronic health issues in humans after long-term ingestion. Our aim in this pilot was to determine whether such elements could be detected by at-home sampling of dogs' drinking water, and, using regression models, to examine associations between water source variables, metal values, and developed disease. We found detectable levels of all metals tested. There were 126 instances when an analyte (arsenic, lead, copper, sodium, strontium, nickel, or vanadium) was above the EPA MCL or health guidance level. We further identified potential association between the presence of titanium and chromium, and occurrence of a known health condition in dogs. This prompts further investigation with a larger, stratified sample analyzing dogs' drinking water composition and long-term health and wellness outcomes in dogs living in diverse geographies. These results may impact veterinary care decisions and husbandry, and underscore the validity and importance of utilizing dogs as sentinels of human health outcomes in the context of drinking water contamination.</p>","PeriodicalId":93672,"journal":{"name":"PLOS water","volume":"4 8","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12463316/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145187848","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Environmental surveillance of soil-transmitted helminths and other enteric pathogens in settings without networked wastewater infrastructure: Environmental surveillance for STH and other enteric pathogens.","authors":"Joël Edoux Eric Siko, Kendra Joy Dahmer, Zayina Zondervenni Manoharan, Ajithkumar Muthukumar, Heather K Amato, Christopher LeBoa, Michael Harris, Venkateshprabhu Janagaraj, Malathi Manuel, Tintu Varghese, Parfait Houngbegnon, Nils Pilotte, Bernadin Bouko, Souad Saïdou, Adrian J F Luty, Rohan Michael Ramesh, Moudachirou Ibikounlé, Sitara S R Ajjampur, Amy J Pickering","doi":"10.1371/journal.pwat.0000337","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pwat.0000337","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Soil-transmitted helminths (STH) are one of the most prevalent enteric infections world-wide. To control STH-related morbidity, the World Health Organization recommends targeted deworming and improvements in water, sanitation and hygiene. Current surveillance strategies for STH focus on identifying and quantifying eggs in stool samples via microscopy, which exhibits poor specificity and sensitivity, especially in settings with low-intensity infections. Wastewater-based epidemiology is a surveillance tool used to monitor pathogen circulation and could replace stool-based approaches for STH detection. However, sampling strategies for settings lacking networked sanitation outside large urban settlements are not well developed. Here, we report evaluation of sampling strategies for soil and wastewater STH surveillance in rural and peri-urban settings without networked sanitation. We used multi-parallel qPCR assays to detect STH DNA in soil collected from high foot-traffic locations and three types of wastewater samples (passive Moore swabs, grab samples, and sediment from drainage ditches) in Comé, Benin and Timiri and Jawadhu Hills in Tamil Nadu, India. We detected STH in soil (India = 32/95, Benin = 39/121) and wastewater (India = 24/60, Benin = 8/64) with a detection frequency across all sample types of 36% in India and 25% in Benin. We evaluated which sample locations and types allowed for more sensitive detection of STH DNA and determined that STH prevalence varied by sample site but did not vary significantly within a given sample site location (e.g., samples collected from multiple locations within one market). Further, we determined that wastewater sediment samples outperformed grab and Moore swab sample types for STH detection. Finally, we expanded our methods to include detection of other enteric pathogens using multiplexed qPCR for wastewater samples. Our results establish sampling strategies for environmental and wastewater surveillance of a wide range of enteric pathogens in settings without networked sanitation.</p>","PeriodicalId":93672,"journal":{"name":"PLOS water","volume":"4 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12383780/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144982135","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Optimizing machine learning for water safety: A comparative analysis with dimensionality reduction and classifier performance in potability prediction","authors":"Debashis Chatterjee, Prithwish Ghosh, Amlan Banerjee, S. S. Das","doi":"10.1371/journal.pwat.0000259","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pwat.0000259","url":null,"abstract":"In this study, we investigated the effectiveness of machine learning techniques in predicting water potability based on water quality attributes. Initially, we applied seven classification-based methods directly to the original dataset, yielding varying accuracy scores. Notably, the Support Vector Machine (SVM) achieved the highest accuracy of 69%, while other methods such as XGBoost, k-Nearest Neighbors, Gaussian Naive Bayes, and Random Forest demonstrated competitive performance with scores ranging from 62% to 68%. Subsequently, we employed Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to reduce the dataset’s dimensionality to six principal components, followed by reapplication of the machine learning techniques. The results showed an increase in accuracy across all classifiers, increasing to nearly 100%. This study provides insights into the impact of dimensionality reduction on predictive accuracy and underscores the importance of selecting appropriate techniques for water potability prediction.","PeriodicalId":93672,"journal":{"name":"PLOS water","volume":"2 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-08-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141929006","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Assessing state partner use of the Model Aquatic Health Code (MAHC): A cross comparison of five states with varying degrees of self-reported adoption status","authors":"Patrick Vander Kelen, Joseph P. Laco, Shannon McClenahan, Christopher Fletcher, Brian Hubbard","doi":"10.1371/journal.pwat.0000276","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pwat.0000276","url":null,"abstract":"Despite the development of the Model Aquatic Health Code (MAHC), U.S. public health departments and aquatics agencies face obstacles in incorporating this guidance into their pool codes. A cross comparison of five state pool codes with the MAHC was conducted to quantify MAHC incorporation into these state codes. The proportion of MAHC code agreement with state codes in this study had a range of 14%–86%. Only 2% of all the MAHC codes available were present in all five state codes, conversely, 12% of the MAHC codes were not found in any state. These differences in code agreement highlight the challenge of measuring MAHC effectiveness at the national level. To improve aquatic safety at a national level, a potential solution is development and use of common core elements in state and local pool codes. Once there is a basis for code comparisons across states, public health programs can investigate whether core MAHC codes result in reduced waterborne illness outbreaks, drowning incidents, injuries from pool chemicals, health outcomes from exposure to disinfection by-products, and swimming-related emergency department visits.","PeriodicalId":93672,"journal":{"name":"PLOS water","volume":"34 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-08-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141926239","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Virtual water flows in a real world","authors":"Xiawei Liao, Ao Liu, L. Chai","doi":"10.1371/journal.pwat.0000275","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pwat.0000275","url":null,"abstract":"Virtual water was introduced by John Anthony Allan in 1998 as a measure of the amount of water required for the production of goods and services. Following the initiation of the Sustainable Development Goals in recent years, an intensified focus on environmental sustainability, particularly regarding water sustainability, has emerged. In this context, virtual water, as a crucial tool for water resources management, garnering attention from the academic community. Existing studies on virtual water have made significant contributions on quantifying the virtual water content embedded in commodities, delineating cross-regional patterns of virtual water flows, unveiling the temporal evolution and spatial distribution patterns of virtual water trade, assessing the economic valuation of virtual water through shadow pricing techniques, and analyzing the drivers influencing virtual water flows. However, there are still research gaps in the current literature on virtual water trade forecasting, virtual water accounting in different sectors (such as services and light industry), grey water footprint estimation and water scarcity indices. Moreover, virtual water research involves hydrology, economics and ecology. Multidisciplinary crossover will be an important trend in virtual water research in the future. This article seeks to comprehensively review current dialogues and investigations regarding virtual water and virtual water trade, assessing their impacts on a range of natural, social, and economic dimensions, and help scientists advance the frontiers of the field, as well as help policymakers adapt regional trade patterns and manage water resources more efficiently.","PeriodicalId":93672,"journal":{"name":"PLOS water","volume":"54 16","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-08-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141927841","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Assessing the sustained effects of a water filter intervention: A 30-month longitudinal study in Rwamagana, Rwanda","authors":"Sabrina S Haque, M. Kirby, Laurien Iyakaremye, Alemayehu Gebremariam, Matthew C. Freeman, Howard H. Chang, Thomas F. Clasen","doi":"10.1371/journal.pwat.0000161","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pwat.0000161","url":null,"abstract":"Household water treatment and safe storage interventions can improve microbiological water quality and reduce diarrheal disease in areas lacking access to safe water. However, with few studies evaluating effectiveness of interventions delivered programmatically for more than a year post-implementation, little is known about their sustainability. We aimed to assess the longer-term use and health effects of a household-based filter with a safe storage tank delivered through Rwanda’s Community based Environmental Health Promotion Programme (CBEHPP). We undertook a 30-month longitudinal study in Rwamagana district, following 608 households across 30 villages receiving the intervention. We conducted four unannounced follow-up visits and measured filter presence, condition and use as well as drinking water quality and child diarrhea prevalence approximately 6, 15, 24, and 30 months after the delivery of the intervention. Coverage of the water filter remained high throughout the follow-up period, with 94% of households observed to have the filter by the 30-month visit. Compared to the 6-month visit, the households with filters observed to be in good condition declined from 94.0% to 84.5% at the 30 month-visit. Reported use declined over this period from 96.9% to 84.3% of households, though presence of water in the storage tank of the filter fell from 81.4% to 59.4%. Fecal contamination of point-of-use drinking water did not get worse over the follow-ups compared to the 6-month visit. Child diarrhea prevalence in the study population varied over the follow up period, from 5.7% to 3.9%, 2.9% and 5.9% at 6, 15, 24 and 30 month visits, respectively. In summary, an intervention to promote uptake and use of water filters as part of the Rwandan national environmental health program was found to show that filters were still largely present, in good condition and in use after 30 months, meaning that the intervention effects were largely maintained.","PeriodicalId":93672,"journal":{"name":"PLOS water","volume":"57 7","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141805918","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"222 nm causes greater protein damage and repair inhibition of E. coli than 254 nm for water disinfection","authors":"David McDonald, Daniel Ma, Natalie M. Hull","doi":"10.1371/journal.pwat.0000238","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pwat.0000238","url":null,"abstract":"Germicidal ultraviolet (UV) light has been widely used to inactivate pathogens in water. Emerging alternatives to conventional low pressure (LP) mercury lamps emitting at 254 nm, such as krypton chloride (KrCl) excimer lamps emitting at 222 nm, are gaining acceptance and popularity due to advantages in human safety and disinfection mechanisms. Cyclobutane pyrimidine dimer (CPD) formation kinetics and photolyase damage kinetics were quantified in E. coli for 222 nm and 254 nm UV. Molecular damage and cell regrowth were also quantified after UV irradiation under photorepair and dark repair incubation conditions using a standardized photorepair fluence response protocol. CPDs and photolyase were measured using enzyme linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA). A novel ELISA for photolyase was developed for this study. Culture-based log inactivation UV fluence responses were similar for 254 nm and 222 nm, with Geeraerd model estimates for rate constants of 1.18±0.09 and 1.24±0.08 cm2 mJ−1 for LP and KrCl lamps, respectively. Molecular UV fluence kinetics showed that the rate of CPD formation was greater by LP, but the rate of photolyase damage was greater by KrCl, as supported by the intercepts of repair kinetics. Compared to LP irradiated samples, KrCl irradiated samples exhibited less repair overall. For a given lamp, similar repair was observed between light and dark repair incubations. Percent reactivation rates with respect to photorepair fluence were (3.7±1.4)×10−5 and (–1.3±2.5)×10−5 cm2 mJ-1 for LP and KrCl lamps, respectively. CPDs decreased at a higher rate during repair incubations in LP samples than KrCl samples, and photolyase concentration increased in LP samples but decreased in KrCl samples. The results quantify contributions of photolyase protein damage to disinfection and repair prevention mechanism of KrCl lamps. This study mechanistically demonstrates why KrCl lamps can be applied for UV water disinfection to limit photorepair after treatment.\u0000Synopsis: This study used a novel photolyase assay to demonstrate photolyase damage inflicted by krypton chloride excimer lamps contributes to disinfection of bacteria to prevent bacterial photorepair of damaged DNA and regrowth in drinking water treatment.","PeriodicalId":93672,"journal":{"name":"PLOS water","volume":"50 12","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141808745","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Missing in action: The UN Water Action Agenda needs an overhauled commitment-setting process","authors":"R. Cronk, Clarissa Brocklehurst, Barbara Evans, Laura Gomez Rodriguez, Daniele Lantagne, Cameron Mcbroom-Fitterer, Eric Momanyi, K. Nyarko, Cecilia Scharp","doi":"10.1371/journal.pwat.0000251","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pwat.0000251","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":93672,"journal":{"name":"PLOS water","volume":"94 8","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141658029","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Towards an integrative understanding of British Columbia’s Nechako Watershed: Connecting knowledge systems to strengthen understanding of climate change, watershed security, health and well-being","authors":"Margot W. Parkes, Stephen J. Déry, Philip N. Owens, E. Petticrew, B. Booth","doi":"10.1371/journal.pwat.0000263","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pwat.0000263","url":null,"abstract":"Understanding of upstream and downstream dynamics of continental river basins demands attention to the influence of important tributaries and watersheds. This is exemplified by the 47,200 km2 Nechako Watershed, the second largest sub-watershed of British Columbia’s Fraser River Basin. Although the Nechako (derived from the Indigenous Dakelh word meaning “big river”) is recognised for its ecological, societal and cultural importance, attention to this sub-watershed has often been overshadowed by a focus on the iconic Fraser River. This paper examines insights from a purposeful response to this gap, whereby a team of researchers has worked together to strengthen understanding of cumulative stressors and changes in the Nechako, focusing on climate change and water security, sediment sources and quality, and health and well-being dynamics within the Nechako Watershed. Lessons learned from a decade of this collaboration are presented, reflecting on the Nechako Watershed’s past, present, and future through the lens of a unique case study of interdisciplinary research. Emerging research and knowledge exchange partnerships are highlighted along with growing concerns for the Nechako’s keystone aquatic species including three species of Pacific salmon and the endangered Nechako white sturgeon. Drawing on the natural, social and health sciences, we examine strengths and challenges of connecting research across interrelated watershed security issues ranging from climate change, landcover disturbances (e.g., wildfires, mountain pine beetle outbreaks and forest harvesting), land use changes (e.g., expansion of Vanderhoof’s agricultural belt), and the far-reaching impacts of the damming of the Nechako River mainstem in the 1950’s. Our paper brings necessary attention to these and other influences on waterways, landscapes and communities of the Nechako Watershed, highlighting new research opportunities arising among diverse knowledges and disciplines, and the ongoing collaborative effort required to address emerging challenges for the Nechako and wider Fraser River Basin, with consequences for current and future generations.","PeriodicalId":93672,"journal":{"name":"PLOS water","volume":"1 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141661220","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}