Communicating Data
“Promoting environmental health literacy through science communication and intergenerational learning in a K-12 safe drinking water citizen science project (Communicating Data)”
“Communicating Data” is a 5-year NIH-NINR Science Education Partnership Award (SEPA) (2023-2028) to advance a national model of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) education. This project aims to engage students as citizen scientists and provide them with the tools and skills to test wells in their communities and analyze the data. As part of the project, students will:
- Use the scientific process to ask real-world questions about drinking water contamination.
- Collect drinking water samples in their homes and communities for analysis of toxic metals.
- Create data visualizations to include in outreach materials, videos, and podcasts to increase awareness about safe drinking water.
- Mobilize communities to address issues related to drinking water safety through community meetings, forums, advocacy, and events.
What is All About Arsenic+?
All About Arsenic+ encompasses multiple citizen science collaborations with communities to assess arsenic and other toxic contaminants in drinking water, soil, and crops.
This collaborative public health project was initiated in 2015 by researchers at MDI Biological Laboratory (MDIBL) and Dartmouth College’s Toxic Metals Superfund Research Program. With new funding from NIH SEPA, we will engage teachers and students across Maine and New Hampshire in collecting drinking water from both public and private systems with a focus on multiple toxic metals, including arsenic, uranium, manganese, and lead. Hence, the “plus”!
Arsenic is a known toxin and a contaminant in private well water used for drinking water. New England has a relatively high probability of arsenic in domestic wells compared to other areas of the country, as seen in the map below. We are now exploring the prevalence of other toxic metals in both public and private drinking water through our school-based program “Communicating Data”.
Why has arsenic been a focus?
Arsenic can have profound effects on public health. Listen to this testimony by a person whose whole family was poisoned by arsenic for years and didn’t know it!
A USGS model published in 2017 predicts that 2.1 million people in the United States drink well water containing arsenic above the EPA Maximum Contaminant Level of 10 ug/L. The map below shows the probability of finding arsenic greater than 10 ug/L in wells across the continental United States.
In states like Maine and New Hampshire, wells are usually drilled into hard crystalline bedrock, which tends to increase the likelihood of high arsenic. Maine and New Hampshire also have among the highest per capita reliance on private wells for drinking water in the United States (ME: 56% and NH: 46%), yet testing rates are low.
Given the high reliance on private well water throughout Maine and New Hampshire and rather low testing rates, raising awareness and increasing testing were key factors in this study.
Motivation
Probability of As
High arsenic in the groundwater of New England (red area in the map on the left) is often due to the underlying meta-sedimentary and igneous rocks of the region (grey area in the map on the right; Peters, 2008).
The map above depicts the likelihood of arsenic in well water (green= low probability and red = high probability). Source Ayotte et al., 2017
Events related to arsenic over time including the implementation of the All About Arsenic project as an EPA and SEPA project.
How does the program work?
“Communicating Data” will engage teachers and researchers throughout Maine and New Hampshire in expanding drinking water testing for arsenic and other toxic metals. There will be a focus on building science communication skills among students so that they can use their data effectively to increase awareness of drinking water contamination issues in their communities.
Between 2015 – 2023, over 35 schools, universities, and institutions collected water samples across Maine and New Hampshire.
Thousands of drinking water samples were collected and are helping to inform the Maine Center for Disease Control and the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services, two government agencies working to improve well water testing rates and public health.
Moving forward, we are expanding sampling efforts to include public water systems and private drinking water sources, increasing our focus to include uranium, manganese, and lead, emphasizing science communication, and facilitating intergenerational learning.
The slider map depicts the increase in numbers of drinking water samples collected by students as years have progressed in the All About Arsenic project.