Abstract
The article looks at strategies being taken to prevent arsenic in drinking water in Bangladesh. In the 1970s and 1980s the Bangladesh government, along with international aid agencies spearheaded by the United Nations Children's Fund, undertook an ambitious project to bring clean water to the nation's villages. The preferred solution was a tubewell: a hand-operated pump that sucks water, through a pipe, from a shallow underground aquifer. Alas, somebody--everybody--neglected to check the water for arsenic. Today around 30 percent of Bangladesh's tubewells are known to yield more than 50 micrograms of arsenic per liter of water. Arsenic in drinking water constitutes the largest case of mass poisoning in history. The U.S. National Research Council concluded in 1999 that the combined cancer risk from ingesting more than 50 micrograms of arsenic per liter of water could easily lead to one in 100 people dying of cancer. Drinking water with high levels of arsenic can also lead to neurological and cardiovascular complications. According to the British Geological Survey, the arsenic is adsorbed onto particles of iron oxyhydroxide, which are reduced by organic extracts in the water itself, releasing arsenic. If so, the mineral has always been in the water. INSETS: THE DISTRIBUTION OF ARSENIC;CHEAP SOLUTIONS FOR SAFER WATER.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
