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    Contamination of Drinking-Water by Arsenic in Bangladesh: A Public Health Emergency

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    Umar Kharisma
    The contamination of groundwater by arsenic in Bangladesh poses a major public health risk, as millions of people have been exposed. Tube wells were originally installed without testing for arsenic to provide safe drinking water and prevent diseases. Studies show long-term exposure to high levels of arsenic in drinking water can lead to cancers killing 1 in 10 people. Immediate actions are needed like identifying and providing arsenic-free water sources, educating communities, and ongoing monitoring to address this large-scale contamination issue. The Bangladesh experience demonstrates the importance of testing groundwater sources for arsenic worldwide before using for drinking water.

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    Contamination of Drinking-Water by Arsenic in Bangladesh: A Public Health Emergency

    Uploaded by

    Umar Kharisma
    27 views1 page
    The contamination of groundwater by arsenic in Bangladesh poses a major public health risk, as millions of people have been exposed. Tube wells were originally installed without testing for arsenic to provide safe drinking water and prevent diseases. Studies show long-term exposure to high levels of arsenic in drinking water can lead to cancers killing 1 in 10 people. Immediate actions are needed like identifying and providing arsenic-free water sources, educating communities, and ongoing monitoring to address this large-scale contamination issue. The Bangladesh experience demonstrates the importance of testing groundwater sources for arsenic worldwide before using for drinking water.

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    The contamination of groundwater by arsenic in Bangladesh poses a major public health risk, as millions of people have been exposed. Tube wells were originally installed without testing for arsenic to provide safe drinking water and prevent diseases. Studies show long-term exposure to high levels of arsenic in drinking water can lead to cancers killing 1 in 10 people. Immediate actions are needed like identifying and providing arsenic-free water sources, educating communities, and ongoing monitoring to address this large-scale contamination issue. The Bangladesh experience demonstrates the importance of testing groundwater sources for arsenic worldwide before using for drinking water.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as doc, pdf, or txt
    27 views1 page

    Contamination of Drinking-Water by Arsenic in Bangladesh: A Public Health Emergency

    Uploaded by

    Umar Kharisma
    The contamination of groundwater by arsenic in Bangladesh poses a major public health risk, as millions of people have been exposed. Tube wells were originally installed without testing for arsenic to provide safe drinking water and prevent diseases. Studies show long-term exposure to high levels of arsenic in drinking water can lead to cancers killing 1 in 10 people. Immediate actions are needed like identifying and providing arsenic-free water sources, educating communities, and ongoing monitoring to address this large-scale contamination issue. The Bangladesh experience demonstrates the importance of testing groundwater sources for arsenic worldwide before using for drinking water.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    Download as doc, pdf, or txt
    of 1

    Contamination of drinking-water by arsenic in Bangladesh: a

    public health emergency


    Contamination de l’eau de boisson par de l’arsenic au Bangladesh :
    une urgence de santé publique

    Contaminación del agua de bebida con arsénico en Bangladesh: una


    emergencia de salud pública

    Allan H. SmithI; Elena O. LingasII; Mahfuzar RahmanIII

    I
    Professor of Epidemiology, 140 Warren Hall, School of Public Health, University of
    California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720-7360, USA
    II
    Doctoral Research Student, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, USA
    III
    International Fellow, Public Health Sciences Division, International Centre for Diarrheal
    Disease Research in Bangladesh, Dhaka, Bangladesh; Division of Occupational and
    Environmental Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, Linköping University, Sweden

    Co

    rrespondence

    ABSTRACT

    The contamination of groundwater by arsenic in Bangladesh is the largest poisoning of a


    population in history, with millions of people exposed. This paper describes the history of
    the discovery of arsenic in drinking-water in Bangladesh and recommends intervention
    strategies. Tube-wells were installed to provide ‘‘pure water’’ to prevent morbidity and
    mortality from gastrointestinal disease. The water from the millions of tube-wells that were
    installed was not tested for arsenic contamination. Studies in other countries where the
    population has had long-term exposure to arsenic in groundwater indicate that 1 in 10
    people who drink water containing 500 µg of arsenic per litre may ultimately die from
    cancers caused by arsenic, including lung, bladder and skin cancers. The rapid allocation of
    funding and prompt expansion of current interventions to address this contamination should
    be facilitated. The fundamental intervention is the identification and provision of arsenic-free
    drinking water. Arsenic is rapidly excreted in urine, and for early or mild cases, no specific
    treatment is required. Community education and participation are essential to ensure that
    interventions are successful; these should be coupled with follow-up monitoring to confirm
    that exposure has ended. Taken together with the discovery of arsenic in groundwater in
    other countries, the experience in Bangladesh shows that groundwater sources throughout
    the world that are used for drinking-water should be tested for arsenic.

    Keywords: Bangladesh; arsenic poisoning, prevention and control; arsenic poisoning,


    therapy; water pollution, chemical, prevention and control; water treatment; environmental
    monitoring

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