Arsenic in Bangladesh, West Bengal
100m people face health hazards
Some 100 million people in Bangladesh and West Bengal of India are exposed to risk from groundwater arsenic contamination, according to experts from home and abroad.
Arsenic-contaminated water and food can cause various diseases including cancer, which may be a major problem in Bangladesh and India in future, they said.
The health risks also include skin lesions, respiratory problems, cardiac disease, nervous system disorders, reproductive defects, diabetes mellitus, and cancers of organs like skin, lung, kidney, and bladder.
The observations came at an international conference on “arsenic health and water supply management: affordability and sustainability” at Dhaka Community Hospital (DCH) auditorium in the capital yesterday.
Harvard School of Public Health, Harvard University, USA; Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA; School of Environmental Studies (SOES), Jadavpur University, Kolkata; CRC Care, University of South Australia; and DCH organised it.
“Many people in the Ganga-Meghna-Brhammaputra basins will die in the long run due to cancer,” said Dr Dipankar Chakraborti, director (Research) at SOES of Jadavpur University.
Chakraborti, who first discovered arsenic in India and did extensive research on the poisonous chemical, said he found many women in West Bengal, Bihar, and Uttar Pradesh suffering from lung cancer.
According to a research, he cited, 6.4 tonnes of arsenic has been deposited in soil from 320 irrigation tube wells over an area of 200 square kilometers in India.
“Similar or even more acute would be the situation in Bangladesh.” The authorities, however, are still negligent to the issue, Chakraborti added.
He also cited a 2009 survey as saying about 16,000 patients were registered with different type of arsenical skin lesions after screening of 1.55 lakh people from affected villages in India.
The researcher said they find an increasing number of patients with arsenical skin damages. Arsenic is a serious problem in food chain, especially in rice and vegetables, he added.
Brac University Vice-chancellor Dr Ainun Nishat said, “I feel bad that this serious problem of arsenic is neglected. I don’t know why.”
Nishat, also a water expert, suggested highlighting the issue in the global forums for a clear understanding to the policymakers and donors.
DCH Trust Chairman Prof Quazi Quamruzzaman said the main source of drinking water in Bangladesh is tube wells.
As shallow tube wells are found lifting arsenic-contaminated groundwater, international agencies are suggesting for installing deep tube wells, he said.
On the other hand, very few are advocating for use of surface water saying the water contains bacteria and germs, he added.
“We however are in favour of using surface water, as filtering bacteria of surface water is easier than filtering arsenic from water.”
Prof David C Christiani, Elkan professor of Environment Genetics, and Zuena Aziz, joint secretary of the LGED ministry, jointly chaired the conference.
DCH coordinator Prof Mahmuder Rahman, Prof David Bellinger of Harvard University, and Prof Ravi Naidu of University of South Australia also addressed it.
