Arsenic poisoning in bangladesh.

Groundwater Arsenic Contamination in Bangladesh: Causes, Effects and Remediation

The serious arsenic contamination of groundwater in Bangladesh has come out recently as the biggest natural calamity in the world. The people in 59 out of 64 districts comprising 126,134 km of Bangladesh are suffering due to the arsenic contamination in drinking water. Seventy five million people are at risk and 24 million are potentially exposed to arsenic contamination. Most of the recognized...

Towards an Assessment of the Socioeconomic Impact of Arsenic Poisoning in Bangladesh

Social implications of arsenic poisoning in Bangladesh.

Besides its toxicity, groundwater arsenic contamination creates widespread social problems for its victims and their families in Bangladesh. There is, for instance, a tendency to ostracise arsenic-affected people, arsenicosis being thought of as a contagious disease. Within the community, arsenic-affected people are barred from social activities and often face rejection, even by their immediate...

Arsenic in food and water--a brief history.

Arsenic has been used for millenia. Although it has been known for many years that arsenic is soon fatal when ingested at high doses, the effects of low dosages became apparent in the 1980s. The full societal implications are only now becoming clear. It is now known to pose the highest calculated risk of any substance regulated by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); high concentration...

Identifying the Hidden Costs of a Public Health Success: Arsenic Well Water Contamination and Productivity in Bangladesh

In the 1970s and 1980s, the government of Bangladesh, with the support and financing of the United Nations Children’s Fund, promoted the digging of tube wells to provide clean drinking water and reduce the incidence of diarrheal disease. This shift in water sources has been attributed to having played a major role in the reductions in morbidity experienced in Bangladesh, particularly with respe...