Abstract
Arsenic contamination in drinking water has a detrimental impact on human health which profoundly impairs the quality of life. Despite recognition of the adverse health implications of arsenic toxicity, there have been few studies to date to suggest measures that could be taken to overcome arsenic contamination. After the statement in 2000 WHO Bulletin that Bangladesh has been experiencing the largest mass poisoning of population in history, we researched existing literature to assess the magnitude of groundwater arsenic contamination in Bangladesh. The literature reviewed related research that had been initiated and/or completed since the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) under four domains: (1) extent of arsenic contamination; (2) health consequences; (3) mitigation and technologies and (4) future directions. To this means, a review matrix was established for analysis of previous literature based on these four core domains. Our findings revealed that several high-quality research articles were produced at the beginning of the MDG period, but efforts have dwindled in recent years. Furthermore, there were only a few studies conducted that focused on developing suitable solutions for managing arsenic contamination. Although the government of Bangladesh has made its population’s access to safe drinking water a priority agenda item, there are still pockets of the population that continue to suffer from arsenic toxicity due to contaminated water supplies.
Highlights
In 2000 Bangladesh was quoted as having suffered the largest mass poisoning of a population in history according to the World Health Organisation (WHO) Bulletin
This study argues that even if pure drinking water is secured, arsenic-contaminated ground water would still be used for irrigation purposes which still poses a significant threat to human health [60]
The problem needs to be understood at the policy level, with public health experts taking on a leading role in arsenic mitigation programs to ensure that they are effective
Summary
In 2000 Bangladesh was quoted as having suffered the largest mass poisoning of a population in history according to the World Health Organisation (WHO) Bulletin. This is due to the contamination of groundwater—the main source of drinking water—with naturally occurring inorganic arsenic [1]. Combustion of coal releases arsenic from coal waste products into the environment through the process of leaching [3]. Res. Public Health 2016, 13, 215 on developing suitable solutions for managing arsenic contamination, thereby, the problem of access to safe drinking water persists. In order to determine the magnitude of groundwater arsenic contamination in Bangladesh, a thorough review of existing literature was deemed necessary. A review matrix based on these four core domains was developed for analysis of the existing literature (Table 1)
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