ARSENIC
POISONING - ENVIRONMENT
News:
Climate change-driven
sea-level rise could increase arsenic poisoning in Bangladesh: Study
What's
in the news?
●
Sea-level rise driven by climate change
could significantly release arsenic — a cancer-causing agent — into
Bangladesh’s drinking well water, according to a new study.
Key
takeaways:
●
This could affect roughly 97 percent of Bangladesh’s population
consuming well water.
●
Approximately 49 percent of the area’s
drinking well water is contaminated with arsenic concentrations exceeding 10 micrograms per litre limit by
the World Health Organization.
●
Exposure to arsenic is already increasing
the rates of death and disease from
skin, bladder, liver and lung cancers and vascular disease in the country.
●
India, too, suffers from a high burden,
with Bihar showing an upsurge in
cases affected by arsenic poisoning.
Arsenic
Poisoning:
●
It occurs in both inorganic and organic forms.
●
Arsenic occurs naturally in the
environment and can be released into water through natural activities such as
hydrothermal action & dissolution of rocks.
●
Inorganic
Arsenic compounds (such as those found in water) are highly toxic
while organic Arsenic compounds (such as those found in seafood) are less
harmful to health.
●
Shift from surface water and shallow open
well sources to deep tube wells in Arsenic affected areas has also led to
Arsenic contamination in some States.
●
Arsenic leaching may also occur from industrial sources or
Arsenic-containing insecticides, herbicides, or rodenticides.
Arsenic
into Groundwater:
●
During weathering of rocks and minerals
followed by subsequent leaching and runoff.
●
It can also be introduced into soil and
groundwater from anthropogenic sources.
●
Where there are sulfide mineral deposits
and sedimentary deposits deriving from volcanic rocks, the concentrations can
be significantly elevated.
●
Natural low-temperature biomethylation and reduction of arsines
also release arsenic into the atmosphere.
Affected
Areas:
●
Most severely affected areas are located
in the Ganges-Brahmaputra delta region.
●
West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar
Pradesh, and Assam are particularly impacted.
●
The contamination is primarily found in
groundwater sources, which many communities rely on for drinking water.
Permissible
Limits:
●
The World
Health Organization’s provisional guideline value for arsenic in drinking
water is 0.01 mg/l (10 μg/l).
●
The permissible limit of arsenic in India in the absence of an alternative
source is 0.05 mg/l (50 μg/l).
Arsenic
Poisoning Effects:
●
Arsenic Poisoning leads to adverse health
effects through inhibition of essential enzymes, which ultimately leads to death from multi-system organ failure.
●
Long-term exposure to arsenic from
drinking-water and food can cause cancer
and skin lesions.
●
It has also been associated with cardiovascular disease and diabetes.
●
In utero and early childhood exposure has
been linked to negative impacts on cognitive development and increased deaths
in young adults.