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Estimated daily average per capita water ingestion by child and adult age categories based on USDA's 1994–1996 and 1998 continuing survey of food intakes by individuals

Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology volume 19, pages 396–404 (2009)Cite this article

Abstract

Water ingestion estimates are important for the assessment of risk to human populations of exposure to water-borne pollutants. This paper reports mean and percentile estimates of the distributions of daily average per capita water ingestion for a number of age range groups. The age ranges, based on guidance from the US EPA's Risk Assessment Forum, are narrow for younger ages when development is rapid and wider for older ages when the rate of development decreases. Estimates are based on data from the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) 1994–1996 and 1998 Continuing Survey of Food Intake by Individuals (CSFII). Water ingestion estimates include water ingested directly as a beverage and water added to foods and beverages during preparation at home or in local establishments. Water occurring naturally in foods or added by manufacturers to commercial products (beverage or food) is not included. Estimates are reported in milliliters (ml/person/day) and milliliters per kilogram of body weight (ml/kg/day). As a by-product of constructing estimates in terms of body weight of respondents, distributions of self-reported body weights based on the CSFII were estimated and are also reported here.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Ms. Helen L. Jacobs and Dr. Julie Du for their significant contributions in the use of the CSFII data to develop previous reports on the ingestion of water. Their efforts and guidance prior to retirement made it possible for us to write this paper. We also want to express our appreciation to the technical support provided by Ms. Annetta Cook, USDA; Ms. Carol Lang, EPA; Ms. Dung Bich Phan and Ms. Jan Biddlup-Krentar, SAIC; as well as Dr. Joyce Donohue, Dr. Hend Galal-Gorchev, Ms. Jacqueline Moya, and Mr. Paul White, EPA for their comments during the preparation of the paper.

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  1. Kathleen Stralka

    Present address: 1Present address: US Consumer Product Safety Commission, Bethesda, MD, USA,

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Office of Research and Development, National Center for Environmental Assessment, US EPA, Washington, District of Columbia, USA

    Henry D Kahn

  2. Science Applications International Corporation, Falls Church, Virginia, USA

    Kathleen Stralka

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  1. Henry D Kahn
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  2. Kathleen Stralka
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Correspondence to Henry D Kahn.

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The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect US EPA policy.

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Kahn, H., Stralka, K. Estimated daily average per capita water ingestion by child and adult age categories based on USDA's 1994–1996 and 1998 continuing survey of food intakes by individuals. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol 19, 396–404 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/jes.2008.29

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