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Quality of drinking water and high incidence rate of esophageal cancer in Golestan province of Iran: a probable link

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Abstract

Golestan province in north Iran is known to be a high-risk area for esophageal cancer (EC). Of a long list of multiple risk factors, this study focuses on a possible link between the epidemiologic patterns of EC and the anomalous concentration of some ions and elements in the drinking water sources. A total of 183 samples from 45 villages covering a wide range of EC mortality rates are collected and analyzed. The results demonstrate that NO3 −, SO4 2−, Sb, and Sr exceed the recommended maximum concentration level (MCL) in drinking water. This is more prominent in the villages with high esophageal cancer mortality rate, suggesting a possible link between EC incidence and water quality. Se concentration in drinking water increases from low to the high EC areas, a finding contrary to the expected trend. It is concluded that Se deficiency does not play a major role in the etiology of EC in the Golestan province. The statistical results obtained from Mann–Whitney and Kruskal–Wallis tests along with cluster analysis are consistent with the observed trend of EC mortality rate in Golestan province.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to express their gratitude to M. Korei of Geological survey of Iran for financially supporting this research. We would also like to extend our thanks to the research committee of Shiraz University for logistic helps.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth Sciences, College of Sciences, Shiraz University, 71454, Shiraz, Iran

    Behnam Keshavarzi, Farid Moore & Ali Najmeddin

  2. Geological Survey of Iran, Medical Geology Group, Tehran, Iran

    Farah Rahmani

  3. Department of Statistics, College of Sciences, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran

    Ahad Malekzadeh

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  1. Behnam Keshavarzi
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  2. Farid Moore
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Correspondence to Behnam Keshavarzi.

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Keshavarzi, B., Moore, F., Najmeddin, A. et al. Quality of drinking water and high incidence rate of esophageal cancer in Golestan province of Iran: a probable link. Environ Geochem Health 34, 15–26 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-011-9377-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-011-9377-3

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