Journal Article

Promotion of well-switching to mitigate the current arsenic crisis in Bangladesh

KAZI MATIN AHMED, ZHONGQI CHENG, SIMPSON, H. James, BECKER, Marck, ASHRAF ALI SEDDIQUE, LOLACONO, Nancy J, SMALL, Christopher, HUSSAIN, Iftikhhar, DHAR, Ratan K, SLAVKOVICH, Vesna, GELMAN, Andrew, GRAZIANO, Joseph H, HORNEMAN, Allan H, VAN GEEN, Alexander, AHSAN, Habibul, PARVEZ, Faruque, YAN ZHENG, STUTE, Martin, SHAHNEWAZ, Mohammad, MOMOTAJ, Hassina, WALLACE, Sean

2002

Overview

To survey tube wells and households in Araihazar upazila, Bangladesh, to set the stage for a long-term epidemiological study of the consequences of chronic arsenic exposure. Water samples and household data were collected over a period of 4 months in 2000 from 4997 contiguous tube wells serving a population of 55000, the position of each well being determined to within +/- 30 m using Global Positioning System receivers. Arsenic concentrations were determined by graphite-furnace atomic-absorption spectrometry. In addition, groundwater samples collected every 2 weeks for an entire year from six tube wells were analysed for arsenic by high-resolution inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry. Half of the wells surveyed in Araihazar had been installed in the previous 5 years; 94% were privately owned. Only about 48% of the surveyed wells supplied water with an arsenic content below 50 micro g/l, the current Bangladesh standard for drinking-water. Similar to other regions of Bangladesh and West Bengal, India, the distribution of arsenic in Araihazar is spatially highly variable (range: 5-860 micro g/l) and therefore difficult to predict. Because of this variability, however, close to 90% of the inhabitants live within 100 m of a safe well. Monitoring of six tube wells currently meeting the 50 micro g/l standard showed no indication of a seasonal cycle in arsenic concentrations coupled to the hydrological cycle. This suggests that well-switching is a viable option in Araihazar, at least for the short term. Well-switching should be more systematically encouraged in Araihazar and many other parts of Bangladesh and West Bengal, India. Social barriers to well-switching need to be better understood and, if possible, overcome.

• Publisher: Organisation mondiale de la santé,World Health Organization,The World Health Organization
• Subject: Absorption / Air. Soil. Water. Waste. Feeding / Arsenic / Arsenic - analysis / Arsenic content / Arsenic Poisoning - epidemiology / Arsenic Poisoning - prevention & control / Bangladesh / Bangladesh - epidemiology / Biological and medical sciences / Contamination / Drinking water / Environment. Living conditions / Environmental Exposure - analysis / Environmental health / Epidemiology / Global positioning systems / GPS / Groundwater / Health aspects / Health policy / Health Policy & Services / Households / Humans / Hydrologic cycle / Mass spectrometry / Medical sciences / Polls & surveys / Population / Positioning / Potable water/chemistry / Potable water/standards / Public health. Hygiene / Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine / Questionnaires / Research Article / Safety and security measures / Scientific imaging / Social aspects / Spectrometry / Spectrophotometry, Atomic / Water / Water analysis / Water Pollutants, Chemical - analysis / Water pollution / Water sampling / Water supply / Water Supply - analysis / Water wells / Water, Underground / Well being / Wells / Women