SynthesisEnvironmental health perspectives2013
Pit latrines and their impacts on groundwater quality: a systematic review.
Synthesis in Environmental health perspectives, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 87 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
87 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- How Do Households Respond to Unreliable Water Supplies? A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2016Pooled it
- Influence of Temperature and Precipitation on the Effectiveness of Water, Sanitation, and Handwashing Interventions against Childhood Diarrheal Disease in Rural Bangladesh: A Reanalysis of the WASH Benefits Bangladesh Trial.Environmental health perspectives · 2024Trial
- Longitudinal Effects of a Sanitation Intervention on Environmental Fecal Contamination in a Cluster-Randomized Controlled Trial in Rural Bangladesh.Environmental science & technology · 2021Trial
- Spatial assessment of Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) infrastructure, groundwater quality, and their association with childhood diarrhoeal risk in India.BMC public health · 2026Article
- What Makes Household Sanitation Systems Resilient to Floods? Evidence from Ethiopia, Uganda, and Nepal.ACS ES&T water · 2026Article
- Meteorological Influence on Drinking Water Quality: Microbial Variability in Groundwater Wells and Piped Distribution Networks from Western Romania.Microorganisms · 2026Article
- Physicochemical and bacteriological quality of drinking water in Debre Markos town, Northwest, Ethiopia.SAGE open medicine · 2026Article
- Risk factors for well contamination in urban Indonesia: evidence to inform siting of wells and sanitation systems.Journal of water and health · 2025Article
- "I Never Don't Have Water Because I Collect Rainwater": Domains of Water Insecurity and Their Sociocultural Correlates in an Indigenous Community of Northern Argentina.Current developments in nutrition · 2025Article
- The Status of Water and Sanitation Facilities in Public Primary Schools in Oyo State, Nigeria: Progress toward Achieving the SDG 6.Environmental health insights · 2025Article
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- Analyses of drinking water quality during a protracted cholera epidemic in Malawi - a cross-sectional study of key physicochemical and microbiological parameters.Journal of water and health · 2024Article
- Suboptimal Bacteriological Quality of Household Water in Municipal Ibadan, Nigeria.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2024Article
- Top 5 Things Health Professions Students Should Know About Ecology and Waste Management.AMA journal of ethics · 2024Article
- Determinants of Willingness to Pay for Fecal Sludge Management Services and Knowledge Gaps: A Scoping Review.Environmental science & technology · 2024Article
- Assessing the Influence of Hand-Dug Well Features and Management on Water Quality.Environmental health insights · 2024Article
- Indicators to complement global monitoring of safely managed on-site sanitation to understand health risks.NPJ clean water · 2024Article
- Risk Factors for Enteric Pathogen Exposure among Children in Black Belt Region of Alabama, USA.Emerging infectious diseases · 2023Article
- Article
27 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundPit latrines are one of the most common human excreta disposal systems in low-income countries, and their use is on the rise as countries aim to meet the sanitation-related target of the Millennium Development Goals. There is concern, however, that discharges of chemical and microbial contaminants from pit latrines to groundwater may negatively affect human health.
objectivesOur goals were to a) calculate global pit latrine coverage, b) systematically review empirical studies of the impacts of pit latrines on groundwater quality, c) evaluate latrine siting standards, and d) identify knowledge gaps regarding the potential for and consequences of groundwater contamination by latrines.
methodsWe used existing survey and population data to calculate global pit latrine coverage. We reviewed the scientific literature on the occurrence of contaminants originating from pit latrines and considered the factors affecting transport of these contaminants. Data were extracted from peer-reviewed articles, books, and reports identified using Web of ScienceSM, PubMed, Google, and document reference lists. DISCUSSION: We estimated that approximately 1.77 billion people use pit latrines as their primary means of sanitation. Studies of pit latrines and groundwater are limited and have generally focused on only a few indicator contaminants. Although groundwater contamination is frequently observed downstream of latrines, contaminant transport distances, recommendations based on empirical studies, and siting guidelines are variable and not well aligned with one another.
conclusionsIn order to improve environmental and human health, future research should examine a larger set of contextual variables, improve measurement approaches, and develop better criteria for siting pit latrines.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.