We assessed health risks related to Arsenic (As) in contaminated drinking water in Hanam, applying the Australian Environmental Health Risk Assessment Framework, which promotes stakeholder involvement in risk assessments. As concentrations in 300 tube-well water samples, before and after filtration, were analyzed and the water consumption levels in 150 households were estimated. Skin cancer risk was characterized using Cancer Slope Factor index and lifetime average daily dose with a probabilistic approach. The results showed that arsenic concentrations in tube-well water ranged from 8–579 ppb (mean 301 ppb) before filtration and current sand filters used by the households did not meet the standard for As removal. Arsenic daily consumption of 40% of the adults exceeded the level of TDI (Tolerable Daily Intake) at 1 µg/kg/day. The average skin cancer risk in adults due to consuming filtered tube-well water for drinking purpose were 25.3 × 10⁻⁵ (using only well water) and 7.6 × 10⁻⁵ (using both well and rain water). The skin cancer risk would be 11.5 times higher if the water was not filtered. Improvement of filtration measures or the replacement of the current drinking water sources to minimize the health risks to the local population is urgently needed.

The use of wastewater and excreta in agriculture is a common practice in Southeast Asia; however, concerns remain about the potential public health risks of this practice. We undertook a scoping review to examine the extent, range, and nature of literature, as well as synthesize the evidence for associations between wastewater and excreta management practices and public health risks in Southeast Asia. Three electronic databases (PubMed, CAB Direct, and Web of Science) were searched and a total of 27 relevant studies were included and evaluated. The available evidence suggested that possible occupational health risks of wastewater and excreta management practices include diarrhea, skin infection, parasitic infection, bacterial infection, and epilepsy. Community members can be at risk for adverse health outcomes through consuming contaminated fish, vegetables, or fruits. Results suggested that practices including handling, treatment, and use of waste may be harmful to human health, particularly farmer’s health. Many studies in this review, however, had limitations including lack of gender analyses, exposure assessment, and longitudinal study designs. These findings suggest that more studies on identifying, quantitatively assessing, and mitigating health risks are needed if sustainable benefits are to be obtained from wastewater and excreta reuse in agriculture in Southeast Asia.

BackgroundDespite progress made by the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) number 7.C, Vietnam still faces challenges with regard to the provision of access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation.ObjectiveThis paper describes household trends in access to improved water sources and sanitation facilities separately, and analyses factors associated with access to improved water sources and sanitation facilities in combination.DesignSecondary data from the Vietnam Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey in 2000, 2006, and 2011 were analyzed. Descriptive statistics and tests of significance describe trends over time in access to water and sanitation by location, demographic and socio-economic factors. Binary logistic regressions (2000, 2006, and 2011) describe associations between access to water and sanitation, and geographic, demographic, and socio-economic factors.ResultsThere have been some outstanding developments in access to improved water sources and sanitation facilities from 2000 to 2011. In 2011, the ...

This study used the Australian Environmental Health Risk Assessment Framework to assess the human health risk of dioxin exposure through foods for local residents in two wards of Bien Hoa City, Vietnam. These wards are known hot-spots for dioxin and a range of stakeholders from central government to local levels were involved in this process. Publications on dioxin characteristics and toxicity were reviewed and dioxin concentrations in local soil, mud, foods, milk and blood samples were used as data for this risk assessment. A food frequency survey of 400 randomly selected households in these wards was conducted to provide data for exposure assessment. Results showed that local residents who had consumed locally cultivated foods, especially fresh water fish and bottom-feeding fish, free-ranging chicken, duck, and beef were at a very high risk, with their daily dioxin intake far exceeding the tolerable daily intake recommended by the WHO. Based on the results of this assessment, a multifaceted risk management program was developed and has been recognized as the first public health program ever to have been implemented in Vietnam to reduce the risks of dioxin exposure at dioxin hot-spots.

"Background: Currently, dengue fever/dengue hemorrhagic fever (DF/DHF) is an important public health challenge in many areas, including the Ba Tri District, Ben Tre Province, Vietnam. Methods and Aim: This study was conducted in 2015 using a retrospective secondary data analysis on monthly data of DF/DHF cases and climate conditions from 2004–2014 in Ba Tri District, which aimed to explore the relationship between DF/DHF and climate variables. Results: During the period of 2004–2014, there were 5728 reported DF/DHF cases and five deaths. The disease occurred year round, with peaked from May to October and the highest number of cases occurred in June and July. There were strong correlations between monthly DF/DHF cases within that period with average rainfall (r = 0.70), humidity (r = 0.59), mosquito density (r = 0.82), and Breteau index (r = 0.81). A moderate association was observed between the monthly average number of DF/DHF cases and the average temperature (r = 0.37). The monthly DF/DHF cases were also moderately correlated with the Aedes mosquito density. Conclusions and Recommendations: Local health authorities need to monitor DF/DHF cases at the beginning of epidemic period, starting from April and to apply timely disease prevention measures to avoid the spreading of the disease in the following months. More vector control efforts should be implemented in March and April, just before the rainy season, which can help to reduce the vectordensity and the epidemic risk. A larger scale study using national data and for a longer period of time should be undertaken to thoroughly describe the correlation between climate variability and DF/DHF cases as well as for modeling and building projection model for the disease in the coming years. This can play an important role for active prevention of DF/DHF in Vietnam under the impacts of climate change and weather variability."