Abstract
What are the most reported healthcare disparities associated with exposure to contaminated water in low-income and under-resourced communities?
Objectives: To identify and analyze the most commonly reported healthcare disparities associated with exposure to contaminated water in low-income and under-resourced communities. This research aims to understand how environmental contamination disproportionately impacts healthcare access and outcomes in marginalized populations.
Background: Low-income and under-resourced communities are disproportionately affected by the ongoing global health threat of contaminated water exposure. Pollutants like heavy metals, pathogens, and industrial runoff cause preventable illnesses like skin infections, developmental disorders, and gastrointestinal disorders. Systemic healthcare disparities, such as limited access to healthcare and environmental injustice, collide, exacerbating these health burdens. As such, individuals cannot ultimately have access to clean water, which leads to the deterioration of health. Although there is increased awareness, little is known about which disparities are most frequently attributed to contaminated water. To further advocate on this matter, we utilized R coding to examine global datasets with specific keywords, such as healthcare disparities and contaminated water, leading us to understand significant trends in socioeconomic and geographic vulnerability.
Methods: In this study, we gathered the Top 100 most cited articles from the Web of Science, focusing on topics such as the health effects of contaminated water, healthcare disparities, and inequities. We were able to identify commonly reported healthcare disparities associated with exposure to contaminated water by extracting and analyzing the articles. We first cleaned the collected articles with Excel. Then, created figures to represent the bibliometric history of the collected articles by using BiblioMetrix.
Results: Findings show that low-income and under-resourced communities face disproportionately high rates of waterborne diseases (such as diarrhea, cholera, and typhoid) due to exposure to contaminated water. These disparities are driven by limited infrastructure, poor sanitation, low health literacy, and inadequate access to healthcare. Environmental factors like climate change, runoff pollution, and proximity to hazardous sites further increase exposure risks. Socioeconomic and structural inequalities compound these effects, reinforcing a cycle of preventable illness in vulnerable populations. Figures 1 and 2 show that most of the top 100 cited papers on waterborne disease disparities come from a few senior authors and elite institutions. This suggests that the data on healthcare disparities from contaminated water may be shaped by limited academic perspectives. Since the research is concentrated in high-resource institutions, the lived experiences of low-income and under-resourced communities most affected by these disparities may be underrepresented. The results show that people in low-income and underserved communities often face worse health due to limited access to healthy food, quality healthcare, and language support, and these same challenges increase their risk from contaminated water. Poor infrastructure, low health literacy, and a lack of medical resources make it harder to prevent and treat waterborne diseases. Combined with environmental risks like proximity to pollution and underinvestment in public services, these conditions create a cycle of preventable illness, where exposure to unsafe water leads to higher rates of diseases like diarrhea, cholera, and other serious infections.
Conclusions: The research shows that people in low-income and under-sourced communities are more likely to suffer from health problems caused by contaminated water, such as diarrhea and other waterborne illnesses. These issues are made worse by limited access to clean water, healthcare, and education about health. On top of that, most of the studies found were done by researchers at wealthy institutions, which means the real-life experiences of those most affected might not be fully included in the research. To truly reduce these health disparities, we need better policies, stronger infrastructure, and more inclusive research that involves the voices of the communities impacted.
Sigma Membership
Non-member
Type
Poster
Format Type
Text-based Document
Study Design/Type
Meta-Analysis/Synthesis
Research Approach
Advanced Analytics
Keywords:
Contaminated Water, Healthcare Disparities, Environmental Health
Recommended Citation
Hussein, Esraa; Chung, Rachel; Kim, Chelsea; Lucas, Jackie; Kim, Erica; Wilson, Kinsley; Sholy, Jasmine; Fares, Rahma; Ojo, Sharon; Teekaraman, Yashitha; Pira, Melane; and Schlosser, Bellana, "Contaminated Water and Health Inequities: A Review of Disparities in Low-Income Populations" (2025). General Submissions: Community and Population-based Materials. 74.
https://www.sigmarepository.org/gen_sub_cpm/74
Rights Holder
All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record.
Review Type
None: Submitted for Open Dissemination
Acquisition
Self-submission
Full Text of Presentation
wf_yes
Description
Author note: I believe this is an ongoing problem worldwide and should be studied further.