Tracing the significance of river for arsenic enrichment and mobilization

Abstract

Arsenic contamination of groundwater has been found to be prominent in many of the flood plain regions of the world where recent Holocene sediments are predominant (Berg et al. 2008; Kumar et al. 2010; Shah 2010). Reductive hydrolysis of metal (hydr)oxides, particularly those of Fe has been found to be the dominant mode of As mobilization in groundwater of such regions (McArthur et al. 2001; Smedley and Kinniburgh 2002; Berg et al. 2008; Kumar et al. 2010). Some of the most well known regions with high groundwater As, where the aforementioned conditions have been detected are Bangladesh, India, Vietnam and Cambodia (Bhattacharya et al. 1997; Acharyya et al. 1999; Smedley and Kinniburgh 2002; Ahmed et al. 2004; Berg et al. 2007, 2008).