Residents await results of Arsenic study
by Kathleen Stinson

NEW RIVER – State health scientists earlier this month discussed but provided no details concerning well‑water arsenic levels in New River, Desert Hills and Cave Creek.

Arizona Department of Health Services officials declined to provide the results of a biomonitoring study conducted among well‑water users in the area.

They did, however, promise to release the report sometime in late October, after all participants have been notified of the results.

ADHS manager Jason Mihalic said the health department tested inorganic arsenic levels in New River, Desert Hills and Cave Creek‑area wells, taking samples from residents’ taps. The department also obtained urine samples from 125 residents who drink water from those wells.

New River is one of four areas the state is testing for arsenic, Mihalic said. Green Valley, Prescott, and either Cochise or Mohave counties are the other test sites the state will study. “These four locations are known to have high levels of arsenic in the ground water,” Mihalic explained.

Health effects associated with high levels of inorganic arsenic include skin cancer, skin discoloration, thickening of the skin in the hands and feet, numbness in the feet, increased blood pressure, fatigue and headaches, said Jennifer Botsford, ADHS coordinator of community environmental health.

Botsford noted that all water companies serving more than 25 people are required to remove unacceptable arsenic levels from their water before it reaches the consumer. The Environmental Protection Agency has adopted more stringent arsenic levels for drinking water and allows no more than 10 parts per billion inorganic arsenic, down from the former maximum of 50 parts per billion.

Both Botsford and Mihalic said well water users should test the metal content of their water.

The state is testing for 14 metals altogether.

Arizona has joined with the Rocky Mountain Biomonitoring Consortium to test well water.

The purpose of the tests is to determine a baseline for metals in the general population, Mihalic said.