Microbial and Chemical Assessment of Regions within New Orleans, LA Impacted by Hurricane Katrina
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- 作者：Kellogg J. Schwab ; Kristen E. Gibson ; D'Ann L. Williams ; Kathryn M. Kulbicki ; C. Paul Lo ; Jana N. Mihalic ; Patrick N. Breysse ; Frank C. Curriero ; Alison S. Geyh
- 刊名：Environmental Science & Technology
- 出版年：2007
- 出版时间：April 1, 2007
- 年：2007
- 卷：41
- 期：7
- 页码：2401 - 2406
- 全文大小：232K
- 年卷期：v.41,no.7(April 1, 2007)
- ISSN：1520-5851
文摘
The city of New Orleans, LA was severely impacted byflooding and wind damage following landfall of HurricaneKatrina in August 2005. The city's drinking waterinfrastructure was severely compromised and massiveamounts of sediment were redeposited throughout the floodedregion. Thousands of homes were water-damagedresulting in the rapid growth of mold. In September andOctober 2005 a convenience sample of selected homes, tapwater, surface water, and sediment within New Orleanswas assessed for mold contamination, microbial contamination, and heavy metal concentrations. At selectedsites, indoor mold spore concentrations were compared tooutdoor concentrations. The purpose of this study wasto conduct a baseline environmental assessment in an effortto identify public health threats caused by wind andflood damage. Surface waters contained high concentrationsof bacterial indicators whereas no bacteria were detectedin tap water, even from taps containing no chlorineresidual. Sediment samples contained concentrations oflead and arsenic similar to pre-Katrina concentrations. Outdoortotal spore (sp) concentrations ranged from >6500 to84 713 sp/m3. Indoor concentrations ranged from 6142 to735 123 sp/m3. For the 13 locations with matched indoor/outdoor samples, the mean indoor/outdoor spore ratio was4.11 (ranging from 0.27 to >11.44). Inside 5 of the 13homes, total spore counts/m3 exceeded 100 000, withmeasurements in the moldiest home exceeding 700 000 sp/m3. In conclusion, surface waters had high concentrationsof bacterial contamination but no bacterial indicatorswere present in tap water. Sediment samples did not haveappreciable increases in lead or arsenic. Flooded homes,however, contained substantial concentrations of moldwhich could present a public health exposure route toindividuals repopulating and restoring the City of New Orleans.