Background to Arsenic Crisis

In the early 1970's nearly one quarter of a million children died each year in Bangladesh and West Bengal from water-borne diseases. In response, approximately four million tube-wells have been drilled to provide pathogen-free drinking water. These wells now supply over 90% of the population and have significantly reduced infant mortality.

Tragically, the same wells that saved many lives now pose the threat in what might be the largest mass poisoning in history. The groundwater is contaminated with naturally occurring arsenic from the alluvial and deltaic sediments that form the region's aquifers. 35% of the wells contain arsenic above the current standard of 50 ppb (the recommended WHO standard is 10 ppb), exposing one third of Bangladesh's 130 million people to drinking water with elevated levels of arsenic.

The final solution for this environmental hazard nececitates the combined efforts of international organization, national and local governments, communities, and people themselves. It is important that all relevant decisions are based on a sound disciplinary and transdisciplinary scientifc basis.

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