Arsenic contamination of groundwater

Arsenic contamination of groundwater is a form of groundwater pollution which is often due to naturally occurring high concentrations of arsenic in deeper levels of groundwater. It is a high-profile problem due to the use of deep tube wells for water supply in the Ganges Delta, causing serious arsenic poisoning to large numbers of people. A 2007 study found that over 137 million people in more than 70 countries are probably affected by arsenic poisoning of drinking water. The problem became a serious health concern after mass poisoning of water in Bangladesh.^[1] Arsenic contamination of ground water is found in many countries throughout the world, including the US.^[2]

The World Health Organization recommends limiting arsenic concentrations in water to 10 μg/L, although this is often an unattainable goal for many problem areas due to the difficult nature of removing arsenic from water sources.^[3]

Approximately 20 major incidents of groundwater arsenic contamination have been reported.^[4] Locations of potentially hazardous wells have been mapped in China.^[5]

^
See:
- "Arsenic in drinking water seen as threat," Archived 2022-01-09 at the Wayback Machine USAToday.com, 30 August 2007.
- See page 6 of: Peter Ravenscroft, "Predicting the global distribution of arsenic pollution in groundwater." Archived 2013-07-01 at the Wayback Machine Paper presented at: "Arsenic – The Geography of a Global Problem," Archived 2013-07-01 at the Wayback Machine Royal Geographic Society Arsenic Conference held at: Royal Geographic Society, London, England, August 29, 2007. This conference is part of The Cambridge Arsenic Project Archived 2012-11-17 at the Wayback Machine.
^ Smedley, PL; Kinniburgh, DG (2002). "A review of the source, behaviour and distribution of arsenic in natural waters" (PDF). Applied Geochemistry. 17 (5): 517–568. Bibcode:2002ApGC...17..517S. doi:10.1016/S0883-2927(02)00018-5. S2CID 55596829. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-10-10. Retrieved 2019-12-04.
^ "Arsenic". www.who.int. Archived from the original on 2020-04-11. Retrieved 2020-11-28.
^ Mukherjee A.; Sengupta M. K.; Hossain M. A. (2006). "Arsenic contamination in groundwater: A global perspective with emphasis on the Asian scenario". Journal of Health, Population, and Nutrition. 24 (2): 142–163. JSTOR 23499353. PMID 17195556.
^ Rodríguez-Lado L.; Sun G.; Berg M.; Zhang Q.; Xue H.; Zheng Q.; Johnson C.A. (2013). "Groundwater arsenic contamination throughout China". Science. 341 (6148): 866–868. Bibcode:2013Sci...341..866R. doi:10.1126/science.1237484. PMID 23970694. S2CID 206548777. Archived from the original on 2020-10-01. Retrieved 2020-09-06.

[1] See:
"Arsenic in drinking water seen as threat," Archived 2022-01-09 at the Wayback Machine USAToday.com, 30 August 2007.

See page 6 of: Peter Ravenscroft, "Predicting the global distribution of arsenic pollution in groundwater." Archived 2013-07-01 at the Wayback Machine Paper presented at: "Arsenic – The Geography of a Global Problem," Archived 2013-07-01 at the Wayback Machine Royal Geographic Society Arsenic Conference held at: Royal Geographic Society, London, England, August 29, 2007. This conference is part of The Cambridge Arsenic Project Archived 2012-11-17 at the Wayback Machine.

[2] "Arsenic in drinking water seen as threat," Archived 2022-01-09 at the Wayback Machine USAToday.com, 30 August 2007.

[3] See page 6 of: Peter Ravenscroft, "Predicting the global distribution of arsenic pollution in groundwater." Archived 2013-07-01 at the Wayback Machine Paper presented at: "Arsenic – The Geography of a Global Problem," Archived 2013-07-01 at the Wayback Machine Royal Geographic Society Arsenic Conference held at: Royal Geographic Society, London, England, August 29, 2007. This conference is part of The Cambridge Arsenic Project Archived 2012-11-17 at the Wayback Machine.

[2] Smedley, PL; Kinniburgh, DG (2002). "A review of the source, behaviour and distribution of arsenic in natural waters" (PDF). Applied Geochemistry. 17 (5): 517–568. Bibcode:2002ApGC...17..517S. doi:10.1016/S0883-2927(02)00018-5. S2CID 55596829. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-10-10. Retrieved 2019-12-04.

[:0-3] "Arsenic". www.who.int. Archived from the original on 2020-04-11. Retrieved 2020-11-28.

[4] Mukherjee A.; Sengupta M. K.; Hossain M. A. (2006). "Arsenic contamination in groundwater: A global perspective with emphasis on the Asian scenario". Journal of Health, Population, and Nutrition. 24 (2): 142–163. JSTOR 23499353. PMID 17195556.

[5] Rodríguez-Lado L.; Sun G.; Berg M.; Zhang Q.; Xue H.; Zheng Q.; Johnson C.A. (2013). "Groundwater arsenic contamination throughout China". Science. 341 (6148): 866–868. Bibcode:2013Sci...341..866R. doi:10.1126/science.1237484. PMID 23970694. S2CID 206548777. Archived from the original on 2020-10-01. Retrieved 2020-09-06.

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