Health Consultation - Exposure Investigation of Private Drinking Water Wells: New River, Maricopa County, AZ

In August 2001 a resident of New River contacted the Arizona Department of Health Services, Office of Environmental Health to request information on the health risks of arsenic in drinking water. The resident collected two well water samples and submitted them to a private laboratory for arsenic analysis. The analyses detected arsenic at 560 and 600 μg/L. To confirm these very high arsenic results, ADHS staff sampled the well for arsenic and submitted the samples for analysis by the ADHS State Laboratory. Arsenic was detected at 340 μg/L. ADHS determined that the health risk posed by arsenic levels in this range and the exclusive reliance of area residents on private wells warranted further investigation. Consequently ADHS initiated a private well sampling program to determine if arsenic contamination of private wells was a widespread problem in the New River area. The objective of this public health consultation is to evaluate the potential health effects from exposure to arsenic in private drinking water wells in the New River, Arizona area.