Bangladesh: natural sediment may shield groundwater from arsenic

Contamination of deep groundwater with arsenic from shallower sources may not be as serious as feared — if pumping deep water is limited to domestic use, a study has found.

Exposure to arsenic-contaminated groundwater has been linked to almost one in every five deaths in Bangladesh, and some 100,000 deep wells have been constructed to pump deeper, cleaner water. Recent modelling studies have suggested that these cleaner water sources are also being contaminated — from shallower water seeping down to replenish deeper wells.

But a study published in Nature Geoscience [doi: 10.1038/ngeo1283] found that natural adsorption of arsenic by sediment — sand in the aquifers — reduces contamination risk in most areas.

The study was conducted as part of the Columbia University Superfund Research Program on the “Health Effects and Geochemistry of Arsenic and Manganese“.

Read more [Syful Islam, SciDev.Net, 10 Oct 2011]

India: govt plans to tackle groundwater over-exploitation

The government is planning to regulate over-extraction of groundwater in agriculture and industry which is seriously affecting drinking water supply in rural India, new Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh said.

“80 per cent of drinking water supply schemes of rural India are depending on groundwater sources and these sources are drying up due to unregulated over-extraction of water for industry and irrigation,” Ramesh told PTI. “It is a serious issue. We are planning to regulate over-extraction of groundwater for irrigation and industry”.

Drinking water supply schemes are being affected as perennial water sources are becoming seasonal. They are also face pollution by naturally occurring arsenic and fluoride, and by leaching or fertilisers, untreated industrial effluent and sewage.

Source: PTI, MSN News, 17 Jul 2011

India, Bhopal: gas tragedy has nothing to do with pollution at site, says NEERI

The contamination of soil and groundwater at the Union Carbide plant in Bhopal has nothing to do with the 1984 gas leak disaster, according to a study released on [08 July 2010] by the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI). Instead, the toxic wastes were dumped over a much longer period between 1969 and 1984.

NEERI’s presentation to the Group of Ministers last month made it clear that “Union Carbide’s Bhopal plant was a polluter long before the 1984 gas leak disaster,” as reported by The Hindu. In its final report, NEERI has re-emphasised this fact, correcting common perceptions.

“During the study, it appeared that there is a general misunderstanding among the public as well as various agencies and organisations that the MIC gas tragedy in 1984 also resulted in contamination of soil and groundwater on and around UCIL premises,” says the final NEERI report.

“However, it may be made clear that contamination of soil and groundwater on and around the UCIL premises is solely due to dumping of the above mentioned wastes during 1969 to 1984, and the MIC gas tragedy has no relevance to it.”

The report says “the solid, semi-solid, liquid and tarry wastes generated during the manufacture of pesticides and associated chemicals were dumped by UCIL on its premises from 1969-1984,” which raises the question how regulators turned a blind eye to the problem for 15 years.

NEERI’s recommendations in the report echo what the agency told the GoM, and was subsequently accepted by the Union Cabinet. As immediate measures, it recommended that the incinerable wastes be burnt at the Pithampur facility, while the 1.1 million tonnes of contaminated soil be buried in a landfill at the site itself. The five contaminated wells should be sealed and the company premises fenced and secured properly to prevent unauthorised access, said the report. In the long term, the contaminated groundwater needs to be pumped and treated.

It put the total cost of soil remediation at Rs. 78 crore to Rs. 117 crore, while the capital cost for the pump and treat unit was pegged in the range of Rs. 25 lakh to Rs. 30 lakh. The operating and maintenance cost of the unit would range between Rs. 10 lakh and Rs. 15 lakh per annum, including the cost of activated carbon and its disposal.

The Indian Institute of Chemical Technology has also framed the tender for the detoxification, decommissioning and dismantling of the Union Carbide plant itself.

Source: The Hindu, 09 Jul 2010

Bangladesh: 77m poisoned by arsenic in drinking water

Up to 77 million people in Bangladesh have been exposed to toxic levels of arsenic from drinking water in recent decades, according to a Lancet study [1].

The research assessed nearly 12,000 people in a district of the capital Dhaka for over a period of 10 years.

More than 20% [407] of deaths among those assessed were caused by the naturally occurring poisonous element, it found [attributed to (>10 μg/L) in drinking water].

The World Health Organization said the exposure was “the largest mass poisoning of a population in history”.

It began after hand-pumped wells were installed in the 1970s to tap groundwater from.

Scientists say even small amounts of arsenic over a long period can cause cancer of the bladder, kidney, lung or skin.

Bangladesh was chosen for the study because nearly 90% of the population uses groundwater as its primary source of fresh water.

[1] Argos, M. … [et al.] (2010). Arsenic exposure from drinking water, and all-cause and chronic-disease mortalities in Bangladesh (HEALS): a prospective cohort study. The Lancet, Early Online Publication, 19 June 2010. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(10)60481-3. Free download after registration.

Related news: Arsenic: MIT scientists pinpoint origin of contamination in drinking water in Bangladesh, Source Weekly, 22 Jan 2010

Source: BBC, 19 Jun 2010

In 2006, the British House of Lords, dismissed a case brought against the British Geological Survey (BGS) for being negligent in not testing for arsenic during a water evaluation in Bangladesh in 1992. If the legal action had been successful it could have cost the British taxpayer millions of pounds in compensation. It would also have set a precedent in making development aid more accountable. [Source Weekly, 17 Jul 2010]

India: protests against Dow Chemical sponsorship of Live Earth

Organisations representing the victims of the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy protested in New Delhi against the Dow Chemical Company sponsorship of the Live Earth Run for Water. They were supported by Amnesty International. The organisers of the Live Earth Run for Water in New Delhi turned out to be a group of Bhopal activists posing as the fictitious Hindustan Sea Turtle Alliance (HASTA).

Dow Chemical has consistently maintained that they do not hold accountability for the disaster, having bought the responsible company, Union Carbide, many years after the toxic gas leak.

But many environmental groups are adamant that they remain responsible for the ongoing horrific consequences of the disaster.

In New Delhi social activist Satinath Sarang said: “Today all over the world, Live Earth is organizing a run for water. This event, which is supposed to address the global water crisis, ironically is being sponsored by Dow Chemicals, which is one of the greatest polluters on earth and one of the big reasons why there is a water crisis today. To start with, Dow Chemical is responsible for the poison in the ground water and soil in Bhopal that is causing cancer and birth defect and damage to the liver, kidneys and brain in Bhopal.”

Amnesty International: Dow cannot run from the legacy of Bhopal

Amnesty International works in partnership with organisations such as The International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal to help support survivors and activists to demand justice, accountability and an end to 25 years of human rights violations.

Their campaign for adequate clean-up, access to clean water and proper medical care, compensation and accountability has seen survivors and supporter groups, including children and people with disabilities, repeatedly make the 800-kilometre march from Bhopal to New Delhi.

More than 100 Bhopal survivors launched an indefinite protest in New Delhi on 16 April 2010, urging the Indian government to resolve the liabilities in Bhopal.

“Sponsoring an event that highlights water scarcity while ignoring ongoing problems with access to clean water and medical care, amongst other issues, in Bhopal is at best hypocrisy, at worst, a flagrant attempt by Dow to try to white-wash its image,” said Audrey Gaughran, Director of Global Issues at Amnesty International. “Dow may be trying to run away from the legacy of Bhopal, but it can’t be allowed to hide behind sponsorship of ‘Run for Water’ events.”

On 26 March 2010 Amnesty International wrote to Live Earth to express concern about Dow’s involvement in the “Run for Water” events. Amnesty has not received a response to that letter.

Nearly 900 people have so far signed a petition of the International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal requesting Live Earth to dissociate itself from Dow.

Bhopal Groups Subvert Dow-funded Live Earth Run for Water in Delhi

Participants who had registered for the Dow Live Earth Run for Water in New Delhi found that the event had been transformed into the Bhopal Walk for Water. The Hindustan Sea Turtle Alliance (HASTA), which had officially registered to organise the run in New Delhi, revealed that they were a “fictitious group set up to expose the global event as Dow Chemical’s attempt to sidestep its legal responsibilities by engaging in greenwash”.

“We are doing this to expose the irony of Dow sponsoring a global awareness campaign on water scarcity, even while it is being called upon by communities from Bhopal to Michigan to clean up precious water resources damaged by Dow’s activities,” said Rachna Dhingra of the International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal.

Featuring a fortune-teller, snake charmer, juggler, magician and other lively communicators, the Bhopal Walk for Water took visitors through “a colourful multimedia display of Dow Chemical’s skills in jugglery, magic, handling poisons and even certain dark arts”.

Related web sites

• Read the official Dow Chemical statement on Bhopal
• See the official Dow Live Earth Run for Water page
• See the Live Earth page of the International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal
• See the web page of the “”fake” Hindustan Sea Turtle Alliance

See also: India, Bhopal: bottled water stunt targets Dow ‘greenwashing’, WASH news Asia & Pacific, 23 Jul 2009

Source: NDTV, 19 Apr 2010 ; Amnesty International, 16 Apr 2010 ; International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal

India, Jharkhand, Bihar: arsenic alarm in villages, government promises safe water

Thousands of people living in over hundreds of villages in different districts of Bihar and Sahebganj district of Jharkhand in India are facing serious threat to their health due to alarmingly high quantity of arsenic present in the underground water. The state government of Bihar has decided to provide safe drinking water in 150 arsenic-affected villages and 200 fluoride-affected villages across the state.

Bihar is facing one of the gravest natural disasters in the form of arsenic contamination of ground water. In the first detailed study of ground water quality, the Department of Environment and Water Management, AN College, Patna, has already submitted Interim Reports to PHED and UNICEF about the alarming findings on arsenic poisoning cases in the districts of Patna, Bhojpur, Vaishali and Bhagalpur. The study was conducted from April 2004 to May 2006, the study area being confined to 10 kms, wide belt along the Ganga river as per the instructions of PHED and UNICEF.

Dr. Ashok K. Ghosh

According to Dr Ashok Ghosh, Principal Investigator of Project Arsenic, Department of EWM, AN College, these findings are just the tip of the iceberg, as more contaminated aquifers are waiting to be detected in the remaining parts of the State. The water quality testing was done initially by Field Test Kits and then confirmed by AAS or UV Spectrophotometric tests. Epidemiological studies indicate that drinking water having more than permissible arsenic levels of 10 parts per billion (ppb) increases the mortality rates as arsenic is a bio-accumulative toxin.

Persons suffering from arsenicosis have not yet responded to known treatment procedures. The high intake of arsenic, along with under nourishment and lack of medical help have worsened the lives of the population in the arsenic affected rural areas. Arsenic can also contaminate standing food crops if it is present in the soil and soil water.

As Bihar plains are highly fertile and its crops are marketed to many distant places, apart from being locally consumed, it becomes imperative to test the levels of arsenic in the food chain too. What is worrisome is that arsenic contaminated ground water tables have abrupt occurrences both over time and space. This explains why a public hand pump in village Ramnagar in Maner tested 30 ppb in the post monsoon period and more than 60 ppb in the month of May. Also arsenic manifestation exists at different levels in different areas.

In north-west Maner, arsenic contaminated hand pumps have a shallow depth between 60 to 80 feet [18-24 m] in the diara belt.

In Bhojpur, the depth of contaminated aquifers goes down to 150 feet [46 m] away from new diara land, while in Vaishali, arsenic is found in the shallow and middle aquifers at an average distance of 5 km away from the river bank. Regular monitoring of drinking water from hand pumps is immediately required as a part of the mitigation strategy. Patna, the first district to be covered, revealed pockets of high arsenic contamination, above the acceptable limit of 10 ppb, in 171 villages in Maner, Danapur, Sampatchak, Barh, Bakhtiarpur, Fatuha, Khusrupur, Phulwari, Mokama, Pandarak and Patna.

1,060 village hand pumps were arsenic contaminated. The highest AAS reading of arsenic level in Government hand pump water is 724 ppb. Sampatchak Block has low contamination levels of below 50 ppb. In Bhojpur, the highest AAS test readings are 1861 ppb and 1,064 ppb in Pandey tola, Barhara Block, a situation far more serious than the one represented by the much-touted village Ojhapatti of Shahpur Block.

Out of the 6,292 hand pumps tested, 47.70 per cent were arsenic contaminated hand pumps. In Barhara, 62.84 per cent in Udwantnagar 59.39 per cent, in Shahpur 40.41 per cent, in Behea 37.17 per cent, in Koilwar, 29.20 per cent, and in Ara 25.88 per cent of Block level hand pumps were arsenic contaminated. In Vaishali, all the blocks covered within 10 km along the Ganga banks, has low level arsenic contamination at present.

In Bhagalpur district most affected areas are Kahalgaon, Pirpainti, Sabaur and Sultanganj. A detailed study has been presented on groundwater metal contents of Sahebgunj district in Jharkhand, with special reference to arsenic. Both tubewell and well waters have been studied separately with greater emphasis on tubewell waters. Groundwater of all the nine blocks of Sahebgunj district have been surveyed for iron, manganese, calcium, magnesium, copper and zinc in addition to arsenic. Groundwater of three blocks of Sahebgunj, namely, Sahebgunj, Rajmahal and Udhawa have been found to be alarmingly contaminated with arsenic present at or above 10 ppb.

Rivers flowing through the coal fields of Jharkhand have been reported to carry arsenic responsible for arsenic poisoning in downstream areas of West Bengal. The coal fields of Bachara and Piprawar areas of Jharkhand have contaminated the waters of the Damodar and its tributary, the Safi. According to author, arsenic contamination arises mainly due to the dumping of waste from the coal mines along the river bed. Coals of the area mentioned contains sufficient amount of arsenic.

Arsenic upto 608 parts per billion (ppb) was detected against the permissible limit of 10 ppb in some villages of Kahalgaon block in Bhagalpur district in 2005. Work was carried out by Dr Sunil Chaudhary of TM Bhagalpur University.

A detailed work was carried out by Dr Ashok Ghosh, Professor-in-charge, department of environment and water management, AN College, Patna, in the arsenic affected areas of Bihar. He found that out of 27,061 hand pumps, 7,218 pumps tested had arsenic contaminated water greater than 10 ppb (26.67 per cent). Highest arsenic value recorded was 1,861 ppb. Study also revealed that 87 per cent of the trivalent arsenic was found in the groundwater of Bihar.

The study by Bihar’s Public Health and Engineering Department (PHED) reveals that the average arsenic content in drinking water in the 12 districts is 500 parts per billion (ppb). Patna is among the affected areas.

According to Dr Ghosh, a total of 16 Bihar districts (57 blocks) are affected by high level of arsenic in the groundwater. Worst-affected districts are Bhojpur, Buxar, Vaishali, Bhagalpur, Samstipur, Khagaria, Katihar, Chapra, Munger and Dharbanga.

A very alarming recent finding by the research group is the detection of high arsenic content (more than 50 ppb) in the water of River Jaminia — flowing parallel to River Ganga in Bhagalpur district of Bihar. This river merges with Ganga and water from this river is being supplied to urban Bhagalpur without any treatment, alarmed Dr Ghosh.

Alarmed by the severity of arsenic’s impact on human body in these villages, the team also collected samples of hair and nail of affected persons for detail medical examination to ascertain the level of damage, said Principal Investigators Dr Ashok Kumar Ghosh and Nupur Bose of AN College Patna. The findings indicated that a wider area, including the fertile irrigational lands, was under the grip of arsenic.

According to another research report done by Dipanka Chakraborti in Semria Ojha Patti village in the Middle Ganga Plain, Bihar, where tube wells replaced dug wells about 20 years ago, analyses of the arsenic content of 206 tube wells (95 per cent of the total) showed that 56.8 per cent exceeded arsenic concentrations of 50 micro g/L, with 19.9 per cent greater than 300 micro g/L, the concentration predicting overt arsenical skin lesions.

[References used in this article are included in a blog post by the author, Nitish Priyadarshi]

Source: Nitish Priyadarshi, The Pioneer, 30 Dec 2009

The state government has decided to provide safe drinking water in 150 arsenic-affected villages and 200 fluoride-affected villages across the state.

“The government has identified these arsenic- and fluoride-affected villages to provide safe drinking water,” Bihar Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) Minister Ashwani Chaubey told IANS here.

Chaubey said the department was serious about providing safe drinking water to people in arsenic- and fluoride-affected villages.

According to him, there are 11 fluoride-affected and 13 arsenic-affected districts in Bihar.

The government is working on a ‘multi-village water supply project’ to supply safe drinking water to affected villages, he said.

The government would provide safe drinking water from the Ganga to villages affected by arsenic, an official in the department, said.

“First, the surface water (in the river) will be treated to remove harmful substances and then it will be supplied,” the official said. He said the treatment of groundwater containing arsenic was expensive and not sustainable.

The state government admitted early this year that high levels of arsenic have been found in the groundwater of different Bihar districts on either side of the Ganga river, posing a cancer threat, an official said.

Arsenic causes cancer of the intestines, liver, kidneys and bladder as well as gangrene.

People in several Bihar villages are suffering from bone deformation and a variety of skin problems.

Source: IANS, Hindustan Times, 15 Dec 2009

India, Bhopal: continuing nightmare, new study finds high levels of groundwater contamination

For more than 25 years, the Union Carbide (UCIL) factory has been contaminating the land and water of Bhopal. Latest tests show that groundwater in areas even three km away from the factory contains almost 40 times more pesticides than Indian standards.

These are the findings of a study released by the New Delhi-based research and advocacy organisation, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE). CSE’s Pollution Monitoring Lab has tested water and soil samples from in and around the Union Carbide factory, and found high concentrations of pesticides and heavy metals inside the factory as well as in the groundwater outside.

The lab study and its results

UCIL used to manufacture three different kinds of pesticides: Carbaryl (trade name Sevin), Aldicarb (trade name Temik) and a formulation of Carbaryl and gamma-hexachlorocyclohexane (trade name Sevidol). The plant also used heavy metals like mercury and chromium. Most of these products and elements are persistent and toxic. The CSE laboratory chose the same chemicals for its tests.

In October 2009, one water and eight soil samples were collected from various places inside the factory. Eleven more water samples came from locations outside, ranging from colonies next to the factory’s boundary to those 3.5 km away.

All the samples collected from within the factory were found to be highly contaminated. The waste stored within the premises had Carbaryl content of 9,856 parts per million (ppm) and mercury content of 1,065 ppm. The soil sample near the Sevidol plant had 2,782 ppm of Lindane; soil from solar evaporation pond had chromium content of 1,065 ppm, while that from the Sevin plant had mercury concentration of 8,188 ppm. It must be noted that there is no standard for these pesticides. Surface water samples had a pesticide concentration of 0.2805 ppm – which is 561 times more than the Indian standard.

Nav Jeevan colony in old Bhopal receives municipal water once in every two days. In 1994, the Supreme Court monitoring committee on hazardous waste reported groundwater contamination near the factory. The court ordered clean water be supplied to the residents. It was only after two marches – from Bhopal to Delhi in 2006 and 2008 – by residents that a pipeline was laid. But the supply is erratic, so people continue to depend on groundwater. Photo: Sayantan Bera

All 11 groundwater samples collected from colonies around the UCIL factory were found to be contaminated with chlorinated benzene compounds and organochlorine pesticides. Carbamates were found in four samples. The concentration of pesticides was 1.1 to 38.6 times higher than the Indian standard. The water sample from a hand-pump near the Chaurasia Samaj Mandir in Shiv Nagar – more than 3 km from the factory – was the most contaminated. It had the highest concentration of Carbaryl (0.011 ppm, 110 times the standard); Lindane (0.004 ppm, 40 times the standard); and mercury (0.024 ppm, 24 times the standard).

Speaking at the release of the study report, Sunita Narain, director, CSE, said: “Our findings suggest that the entire site is highly contaminated. The waste stored within the factory is a small part of the total contamination present in the site. The focus of the government to just dispose off the stored waste and ignore the site contamination problem is, therefore, not going to solve the environmental problems from the UCIL factory.”

Chronic toxicity: the health implications

“The factory site in Bhopal is leading to chronic toxicity – continuous tiny exposure leading to poisoning of our bodies,” explains Narain. “This is different from acute poisoning and so the claim that the factory is not dangerous because people can touch the waste is misleading.” The problem, CSE says, is that the chemicals present in the soil of the factory are leaching into the groundwater and leading to slow and deliberate poisoning of residents.

The health impact of this slow poisoning will be enormous, says CSE. Chlorinated benzene compounds (such as di- and tri-chlorobenzene) can affect and damage the liver and blood cells, while organochlorine pesticides can lead to cancers and bone defects. The two key products of UCIL – Carbaryl and Aldicarb – were as deadly. Their health impacts include damage to the brain and nervous system, chromosomal abnormalities etc.

CSE researchers have found that people living around the accident site continue to suffer from diseases ranging from chronic ailments to abnormalities. No one, however, is certain how much of it is related to the gas release and how much has been exacerbated because of continuing exposure to toxins.

Says Chandra Bhushan: “The Indian Council for Medical Research was asked to conduct long-term epidemiological research right after the disaster, but these studies were summarily discontinued in 1994. The initial reports suggested long-term and deadly health effects on the survivors.”

Who will pay for the clean-up?

If this contamination is accepted, the question is, who will pay for the clean-up? If the entire site of the factory needs to be carefully checked and cleaned up, the cost of the operation will be very high. Who will pay for this continuing environmental damage? Dow Chemical Company, which has bought over Union Carbide, says it is not responsible. It wants the High Court to delete it from the list of respondents. Based on letters accessed by RTI activists, it is also clear that there is pressure to dilute the liability of Dow Chemicals, arguing that the company had nothing to do with Union Carbide India Limited, which operated the plant.

This cannot be acceptable, says CSE. The toxins we have found in the factory are related to the production process of the plant. It is clear that UCIL was dumping its waste – of chemicals and pesticides – in the factory compound over the years it operated the factory. Dow must be held responsible. “Its own annual report shows that it has taken on the liability of Union Carbide in the case of asbestos exposure in the US. Why is it denying this responsibility in India?” asks Sunita Narain.

Read the Down to Earth cover story on the study.

Source: CSE, 01 Dec 2009

Bangladesh: ponds ’caused arsenic’ contamination, MIT study says

Man-made ponds may be responsible for widespread arsenic contamination of ground water affecting millions of people in Bangladesh, a new study says [1].

Rebecca Neumann hangs off the end of bamboo scaffolding built at the field site. Assisted by a man hired from a nearby village, she is connecting a tube that will run from the surface water in the rice field up to a higher point on the scaffolding. Photo: Sarah Jane White, MIT

Researchers in MIT’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering believe they have pinpointed a pathway by which arsenic may be contaminating the drinking water in Bangladesh, a phenomenon that has puzzled scientists, world health agencies and the Bangladeshi government for nearly 30 years.

The research suggests that human alteration to the landscape, the construction of villages with ponds, and the adoption of irrigated agriculture are responsible for the current pattern of arsenic concentration underground.

In 2002, a research team led by Charles Harvey, the Doherty Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at MIT, had determined that microbial metabolism of organic carbon was mobilizing the arsenic off the soils and sediments, and that crop irrigation was almost certainly playing a role in the process. But the exact sources of the contaminated water have remained elusive, until now.

Around 25m people in the country have been exposed to arsenic through water. Experts have described the situation as the worst mass poisoning of a population in history.

Man-made ponds – often dug with the help of international aid agencies – were originally created to protects villagers from unclean water.

The arsenic enters water supplies from agricultural and industrial waste or from natural deposits in the ground.

A Bangladeshi farmer shows the effects of arsenic poisoning. Photo: BBC

Around two million people in Bangladesh suffer from arsenic poisoning. Chronic ingestion of small doses has been linked to cancer of the bladder, kidney, lung or skin, while large doses can kill immediately.

Arsenic contamination of ground water is a global problem and has occurred in other countries such as Argentina, Chile, China, India, Mexico, Taiwan, Thailand and the United States.

But the gravity of the contamination in Bangladesh is unprecedented. Millions of Bangladeshis knowingly poison themselves because there is often no alternative water source. Harvey estimates that the incidence of death from arsenic-induced cancer will rise to approximately 3,000 cases per year if consumption of contaminated water continues.

Scott Fendorf, a professor at Stanford University who studies arsenic content in soils and sediments along the Mekong River in Cambodia, says Harvey’s previous research, published in 2002, “transformed the scientific community’s outlook on the problem.”

The current work, he adds, has two big ramifications: “It shows that human modifications are impacting the arsenic content in the groundwater; and that while the rice cropping system appears to be buffering the arsenic, the ponds excavated to provide fill to build up the villages are having a negative impact on the release of arsenic.”

Harvard scientist and co-author of the study Rebecca Neumann said that arsenic contamination could be avoided by digging deeper drinking water wells below the ponds.

Charles F. Harvey. Photo: MIT

Harvey and a team of environmental scientists and physicians are making plans for a multi-year study that would provide deep wells for two villages in Bangladesh whose inhabitants suffer from arsenic poisoning. There they would combine continual testing of the well water and hydrogeological modeling of the groundwater system with a study of how the clean water effects the villagers’ health, placing special emphasis on the neurological development of children.

“There are all sorts of studies to show how arsenic hurts people. We’re trying to turn it around and show how removal of the arsenic will help them,” says Harvey.

[1] Neuman, R.B. … [et al.] (2009). Anthropogenic influences on groundwater arsenic concentrations in Bangladesh. Nature Geoscience. Published online: 15 November 2009 | doi:10.1038/ngeo685

Source: BBC, 15 Nov 2009 ; ScienceDaily, 15 Nov 2009; MIT, 15 Nov 2009

India, Karnataka: poor sanitation and water contamination

Fluorides, nitrates in water crippling villagers

BANGALORE: For good health, the quality of drinking water is critical. But in Karnataka, where much of groundwater sources are concentrated with fluorides and nitrates, the impact is devastating. Dental and spine-related ailments are showing up in many cities and villages.

In some of the fluoride-endemic districts like Kolar, Chitradurga, Gadag and Bellary, smiles on the faces of young children have vanished as they are afflicted by dental fluorosis.

The Bureau of Indian Standards’ permissible limit for fluoride in drinking water is 1.5 mg/litre and for nitrates, the permissible limit is 45 mg/litre. Bagepalli taluk in Kolar has a fluoride concentration of more than 3 mg/litre. In Nellukudiri village of Bellary district, it is 5 mg/litre.

Dean and director, Government Dental College and Research Institute, Dr S S Hiremath, said: “More than 6% of the state’s population is afflicted by dental fluorosis. Children don’t have proper teeth formation.”

After years of consuming fluoride, when the spinal cord starts compressing and even before the cause for disability is known, the patient is paralyzed. This is a shocking condition in some fluoride-intense districts like Tumkur, where many people in a few villages have spinal cord-related diseases.

Several villages in Pavagada taluk in Tumkur district have fluoride concentration five times more than the permissible level.

Director of the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Dr D Nagaraj, said: “Due to fluoride concentration in water, many people in districts like Dharwad and Tumkur have spinal cord diseases. These are progressive diseases, after decades of consumption. People are battling with permanent disabilities.”

Groundwater is a major source of drinking water in rural Karnataka. But, due to lack of monitoring, the population is becoming a victim of water-borne diseases.

According to a mines and geology department study on excess chemicals in the state’s groundwater, most districts where drinking water is supplied through borewells have a high concentration of nitrates and fluorides.

CAUSE & EFFECT

The main cause for increase in nitrates in groundwater is open sewage disposal and use of nitrogen fertilizers. Since rural sanitation in Karnataka is in a dismal condition, some districts like Gulbarga, Bijapur, Raichur and Tumkur have sanitation coverage below 20%. The presence of nitrates in water is evidence of such contamination.

Consumption of nitrates beyond the permissible limit is harmful to infants and also affects pregnant women and elderly persons. It causes methemoglobinemia or blue baby syndrome.

As arsenic particles in water cause psychological problems apart from skin diseases, Dr Nagaraj suggests all deep borewells should be systematically studied to tackle psychological diseases in the state.

Source: Times of India, 22 Sep 2009

Nepal, Siraha District: forced to drink arsenic-contaminated water

Thousands of people [in Siraha District, south-eastern Nepal] are forced to drink arsenic-contaminated water after the Drinking Water Office [failed to] provide [an] alternative to tube-wells with high concentration of arsenic. Three years ago, the District Drinking Water and Sanitation Division Office Lahan had detected arsenic beyond national standards in the water of 1234 tube-wells in the district and proved the water unfit for drinking.

The office had conducted arsenic tests in tube wells of 29 VDCs and detected arsenic beyond 50 ppb (parts per billion) in 2.83 percent out of 46,625 tube-wells in the district. Arsenic has hit hard the Hanuman Nagar, Khirauna and Hakpara VDCs the most. More than 50 ppb arsenic has been detected in 35 public tube-wells in Khirauna VDC. According to Nepal’s National Drinking Water Quality Standard 2063, water containing more than 50 ppb arsenic is considered unsafe for drinking.

Bramha Dev Kamati, former chairman of Hanuman Nagar VDC said, “It has been more than two years since the drinking water office prohibited us to drink water from the tube-wells after detecting arsenic in them but the office has not provided any alternative of tube-wells to us.”

“Alarmed by the arsenic presence, the Red Cross has distributed 1,100 Kanchan filters to the people in the arsenic-affected VDCs free of cost,” said Raj Dev Yadav, chairperson Red Cross Siraha branch. He also said that they have been launching awareness programmes to make people conscious about arsenic.

Source: By: Bharat Jardhamagar, Kantipur / NGO Forum, 20 Sep 2009