Arsenic contamination of the environment: A new perspective from central-east India

Abstract

This paper reports a regional contamination of the environment in central-east India that does not share geology or boundary with the Bengal Delta Plain. About 30,000 people residing in 30 villages and towns are directly exposed to arsenic and more than 200,000 people are “at risk.” Complete geographical extent of this contamination is being established, and this newly reported contaminated area could be quite large. This paper further reports that the mechanisms involved in arsenic mobilisation are complex and the two theories of arsenic mobilisation, i.e., pyrite oxidation and oxyhydroxides reduction, do not fully explain the high levels of arsenic contamination. This paper also proposes the “oxidation–reduction theory” for arsenic mobilisation where the arsenic originates from the arsenopyrite oxidation and the arsenic thus mobilised forms the minerals and gets reduced underground in favourable Eh conditions. The stoppage of water withdrawal from the contaminated sources did not result in lowering of arsenic levels as expected according to the heavy groundwater extraction theory (pyrite oxidation theory). Cases of arsenicosis in the region are on the rise and the switchover to less contaminated water has not reversed the arsenicosis progression in the affected persons even after 2 years. Surface water of the rivers is also being contaminated because of the probable dislocation of contaminated groundwater due to the heavy rains in monsoon season, which indicates that the river water could be a major carrier of arsenic in dissolved or adsorbed forms that may be a cause of contamination of the delta plains.