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Arsenic poisoning in the Ganges delta

Author

Listed:
  • Tarit Roy Chowdhury

    (School of Environmental Studies, Jadavpur University)

  • Gautam Kumar Basu

    (School of Environmental Studies, Jadavpur University)

  • Badal Kumar Mandal

    (School of Environmental Studies, Jadavpur University)

  • Bhajan Kumar Biswas

    (School of Environmental Studies, Jadavpur University)

  • Gautam Samanta

    (School of Environmental Studies, Jadavpur University)

  • Uttam Kumar Chowdhury

    (School of Environmental Studies, Jadavpur University)

  • Chitta Ranjan Chanda

    (School of Environmental Studies, Jadavpur University)

  • Dilip Lodh

    (School of Environmental Studies, Jadavpur University)

  • Sagar Lal Roy

    (School of Environmental Studies, Jadavpur University)

  • Khitish Chandra Saha

    (School of Environmental Studies, Jadavpur University)

  • Sibtosh Roy

    (Dhaka Community Hospital Trust)

  • Saiful Kabir

    (Dhaka Community Hospital Trust)

  • Qazi Quamruzzaman

    (Dhaka Community Hospital Trust)

  • Dipankar Chakraborti

    (School of Environmental Studies, Jadavpur University)

Abstract

We have been studying the contamination of groundwater by arsenic and the attend-ant human suffering in West Bengal, India, for a decade, and in Bangladesh for the past four years. From our analysis of thousands of samples of water and sediment1,2,3,4,5,6,7, we have been able to test the course of events proposed by Nickson et al.8 to account for the poisoning of Bangladesh groundwater. We disagree with Nickson et al.'s claim that arsenic concentrations in shallow (oxic) wells are mostly below 50 μg per litre. In our samples from Bangladesh (n=9,465), 59% of the 7,800 samples taken at known depth and containing arsenic at over arsenic 50 μg per litre were collected from depths of less than 30 m, and 67% of the 167 samples with arsenic concentrations above 1,000 μg per litre were collected from wells between 11 and 15.8 m deep.

Suggested Citation

  • Tarit Roy Chowdhury & Gautam Kumar Basu & Badal Kumar Mandal & Bhajan Kumar Biswas & Gautam Samanta & Uttam Kumar Chowdhury & Chitta Ranjan Chanda & Dilip Lodh & Sagar Lal Roy & Khitish Chandra Saha &, 1999. "Arsenic poisoning in the Ganges delta," Nature, Nature, vol. 401(6753), pages 545-546, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:401:y:1999:i:6753:d:10.1038_44056
    DOI: 10.1038/44056
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    Cited by:

    1. Dipankar Chakraborti & Sushant K. Singh & Mohammad Mahmudur Rahman & Rathindra Nath Dutta & Subhas Chandra Mukherjee & Shyamapada Pati & Probir Bijoy Kar, 2018. "Groundwater Arsenic Contamination in the Ganga River Basin: A Future Health Danger," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-19, January.

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