Our Impact on Public Health: How We’re Proving It

Photo: Dr. Farías of the National Institute of Public Health in Mexico talks with members of the community of Alonso Yáñez regarding the collaborative health study launching in early 2024.

A New Era in Water Studies: Catalyzing Systemic Change through Groundbreaking Studies on Public Health 

Caminos de Agua has been studying water quality in our region – the Upper Río Laja Watershed – for over 10 years. In fact, water quality monitoring is our oldest program. We have uncovered abhorrent levels of fluoride and arsenic in our communities' water supplies – upwards of 18 and 23 times the allowable limits respectively. These contaminants are linked to a host of detrimental health issues from deteriorating teeth (dental fluorosis) and skin lesions, from arsenic poisoning (arsenicosis) to learning disabilities and even multiple cancers. These two contaminants are also very closely linked to kidney damage, especially in children, which is where our new collaboration starts. 

Despite a growing body of research globally, there has been a scarcity of public health studies on the impacts of these water contaminants in our region. In 2018, Caminos de Agua partnered with the National Institute of Public Health in Mexico (“INSP” for its acronym in Spanish) to look at the impacts of fluoride on our children. Utilizing Caminos de Agua water quality data to identify exposed communities, the researchers found that 82% of children in the study presented with dental fluorosis – the permanent staining, and even deterioration, of children’s teeth. The study, published in 2021, was the first of its kind that attempted to link the levels of contamination in our region’s water supplies to health consequences in children. 

Map: Explore Caminos de Agua's Water Quality Map by clicking on the image to open it in a new window.

That said, the study was a first step and more work is needed to make the case. That’s why, over the last several months, we have been working closely, again with INSP, as well as researchers from Columbia University and University of Colorado, to implement a far more important study that will look at both kidney damage in children as well as the ability for our interventions to help remedy that potential harm. 

This study will measure biomarkers for kidney damage in 70 children, ages 7-11, in the community of Alonso Yáñez where more than 270 families are exposed to fluoride levels that are more than 5 times the allowable limit. Shortly after an initial baseline analysis measuring the biomarkers for kidney damage in the participating children, Caminos de Agua will switch on our first large-scale Groundwater Treatment System (GTS), which removes arsenic and fluoride from the water at the entire community-scale. After 6-12 months, the researchers will return to determine the changes in the kidney biomarkers in children to, we hypothesize, illustrate a dramatic improvement and even reversal of the potential kidney damage. 

Photo: Dr. Farías of the National Institute of Public Health in Mexico talks with mothers at the elementary school in Alonso Yáñez regarding the collaborative health study launching in early 2024.

Photo: Victor Hernández, a Community Organizer at Caminos, discussing the health effects of drinking contaminated water with a group of women in Alonso Yáñez.

While there are many studies illustrating the health impacts of contaminants like arsenic and fluoride, to our knowledge, there has never been a study like this that will also look at how the damage from these contaminants can be improved, even reversed, through interventions that change the water supply. 

The implications of this health study go far beyond the community of Alonso Yáñez. This study, which we hope will be the first of several in the region that build off one another, is helping to develop a knowledge base that illustrates clear correlations between regional water quality, the health of our neighbors, and how technologies like GTS and rainwater harvesting can make a meaningful and positive impact on public health. These studies build the type of irrefutable evidence we can, and will, bring in front of government and other authorities (who can be reluctant to accept the environmental impacts on health) to spark broader discussions about these critical issues and call for deeper systemic change to the causes and consequences of our water crisis.

As we move forward on documenting the public health repercussions of our water problems, we are acutely aware that this is not only a regional predicament – it's a global dilemma. And the body of evidence we build regionally can reverberate far by being utilized by others facing similar water quality challenges worldwide. We at Caminos de Agua always share our data, technologies, and models openly and freely in an effort to create solutions not just for our region but as a stepping stone towards deeper change around the globe.