POSSIBLE IMPACT OF CARRIZO-WILCOX AQUIFER WATER ON KIDNEY DISEASE IN LOUISIANA

Naturally occurring organic compounds have been found in aquifers associated with lignites in the Balkan countries in Europe, in Texas, and in Louisiana. It has been postulated that the ground water is extracting organic compounds from the stratigraphically-associated lignites. Where people are drinking this water there appears to be an increased incidence of renal/pelvic cancer and kidney disease generally resulting in end stage renal failure requiring dialysis treatment. For Texas it has been shown that the number of dialysis beds per unit population is two to three times higher in those counties drawing water from the lignite-bearing Carrizo-Wilcox Formation than in adjacent counties drawing water from aquifers not associated with lignite deposits. We have shown that the same relationship exists in Louisiana. The average number of dialysis beds (per 10,000 people) in northern Louisiana (underlain by lignite-bearing strata), central Louisiana, and southern Louisiana were calculated to be 7.7, 6.05 and 5.24 respectively. The people in the region with the highest proportion of dialysis beds obtained their drinking water primarily from the Carrizo-Wilcox aquifer, whereas people in the other two regions obtained their drinking water from other sources. Significantly, there is no difference between the regions in the incidence of diabetes, the main cause of kidney failure. Furthermore, data from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention indicate that the incidence rate of renal/pelvic cancer in Louisiana is 19.1 per 100,000, higher than the national average of 15.4 per 100,000, and the incidence of chronic kidney failure in Louisiana is second highest in the nation.