Addressing Water Quality Alongside Community Health Workers in a Farm Worker Community

摘要

The community of Winchester Heights, Arizona is made up of approximately 400 migrant farm workers and has been identified as a community near the US-Mexico border lacking accessible potable water, adequate sewer services, and other infrastructural issues. Previous work has illustrated community concern over environmental health issues, including water quality. The objectives of this project were to increase community capacity to address environmental health concerns through the establishment of a community health worker (CHW) environmental health (EH) program, measure fecal indicators and metal concentrations in community water samples, and identify community water usage patterns and barriers to improvement. Five community members were recruited as CHWs and trained in environmental health principles, human subject research, water collection, sample processing, and result-reporting methods. The trained CHRs collected tap water samples from 43 households and administered questionnaires to 43 adults. Morning and evening tap water samples were analyzed for E.coli using compartmental bag test as well as membrane filtration followed by incubation on modified mTEC media. Water samples were analyzed for lead and arsenic via inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Water samples from all households were negative for E.coli. The concentration of lead and arsenic in all water samples were below the EPA Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) for both contaminants. The majority of respondents used bottled water as their primary drinking water source and listed lack of regular testing and acceptable consumer confidence reports as barriers to improvement. This project demonstrates the utility of CHW programs in addressing community environmental health concerns along the US-Mexico border region. The CHWs recruited participants, conducted water sampling, and reported of results to their own community, which are transferrable skills that can be used to address other community issues. Furthermore, the project can be used as a model in other underserved border communities.