Arsenic Bangladesh water supply

In Bangladesh in 1998, a case of chronic poisoning from an arsenic-contaminated water supply gained worldwide attention (see Box 2). 

JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) (2002). The Study on the Ground Water Development of Deep Aquifers for Safe Drinking Water Supply to Arsenic Affected Areas in Western Bangladesh. Draft final report, Japan International Cooperation Agency, Kokusai Kogyo and Mitsui Mineral Development Engineering. 

Arsenic poisoning is a serious concern in areas with naturally contaminated water supplies, such as Bangladesh s ground water. Some estimates are as high as 20 percent of all wells around the world suffer some sort of arsenic contamination, which can lead to both skin and bladder cancers (and ultimately death). 

One of the major problems associated with water supplies around the world is arsenic contamination. In Bangladesh wells dug in the 1950s and 1960s to control the spread of cholera are contaminated with arsenic (containing 10 to 50 times the amount of arsenic considered safe). In fact, arsenic contamination affects millions of people in more than 20 countries. Several new approaches are being tried to improve this problem and... 

One of the most tragic examples of water as a vector for toxic substances in the geosphere happened in Bangladesh, where tube wells drilled to supply pathogen-free water (Figure 9.9) became contaminated with arsenic leached from the aquifers into which they were drilled and caused numerous cases of arsenic poisoning. Characterized by the World Health Organization as... 

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