ReviewEnvironmental health perspectives2017
Review of Epidemiological Studies of Drinking-Water Turbidity in Relation to Acute Gastrointestinal Illness.
Review in Environmental health perspectives, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
19 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- The effectiveness of syndromic surveillance for the early detection of waterborne outbreaks: a systematic review.BMC infectious diseases · 2021Pooled it
- A Systematic Review of the Time Series Studies Addressing the Endemic Risk of Acute Gastroenteritis According to Drinking Water Operation Conditions in Urban Areas of Developed Countries.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2018Pooled it
- Drinking water quality and enteric disease: a nationwide case-crossover study (2015-2019) in New Zealand.Journal of exposure science & environmental epidemiology · 2026Article
- Drinking water quality surveillance in Bhutan: trend and compliance (2017-2024).Journal of water and health · 2025Article
- Monitoring the Effectiveness of a Preschool Hand Hygiene Intervention Using Flow Cytometry to Determine the Reduction in the Microbiological Counts.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025Article
- Laying the groundwork for aJournal of water and health · 2024Review
- New York State Climate Impacts Assessment Chapter 10: Water Resources.Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences · 2024Article
- Article
- Self-Assembly of Three-Dimensional Hyperbranched Magnetic Composites and Application in High-Turbidity Water Treatment.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Reduction of Malnutrition Related to Unsafe Water Consumption in Developing Countries: Potabilization of Surface Water and Traditional Well Water, with Plant Extracts.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2024Article
- Chemical and microbiological assessment of drinking water quality.African health sciences · 2022Article
- LED PEDD Discharge Photometry: Effects of Software Driven Measurements for Sensing Applications.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Preparation of Polystyrene Microsphere-Templated Porous Monolith for Wastewater Filtration.Materials (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- An analecta of visualizations for foodborne illness trends and seasonality.Scientific data · 2020Article
- Heavy precipitation, drinking water source, and acute gastrointestinal illness in Philadelphia, 2015-2017.PloS one · 2020Article
- Watershed integrity and associations with gastrointestinal illness in the United States.Journal of water and health · 2019Article
- Standards Compliance and Health Implications of Bottled Water in Malawi.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2019Article
- Extreme Precipitation, Public Health Emergencies, and Safe Drinking Water in the USA.Current environmental health reports · 2018Review
- Time series study of weather, water quality, and acute gastroenteritis at Water Safety Plan implementation sites in France and Spain.International journal of hygiene and environmental health · 2018Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundTurbidity has been used as an indicator of microbiological contamination of drinking water in time-series studies attempting to discern the presence of waterborne gastrointestinal illness; however, the utility of turbidity as a proxy exposure measure has been questioned.
objectivesWe conducted a review of epidemiological studies of the association between turbidity of drinking-water supplies and incidence of acute gastrointestinal illness (AGI), including a synthesis of the overall weight of evidence. Our goal was to evaluate the potential for causal inference from the studies.
methodsWe identified 14 studies on the topic (distinct by region, time period and/or population). We evaluated each study with regard to modeling approaches, potential biases, and the strength of evidence. We also considered consistencies and differences in the collective results. DISCUSSION: Positive associations between drinking-water turbidity and AGI incidence were found in different cities and time periods, and with both unfiltered and filtered supplies. There was some evidence for a stronger association at higher turbidity levels. The studies appeared to adequately adjust for confounding. There was fair consistency in the notable lags between turbidity measurement and AGI identification, which fell between 6 and 10 d in many studies.
conclusionsThe observed associations suggest a detectable incidence of waterborne AGI from drinking water in the systems and time periods studied. However, some discrepant results indicate that the association may be context specific. Combining turbidity with seasonal and climatic factors, additional water quality measures, and treatment data may enhance predictive modeling in future studies. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP1090.
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