Groundwater arsenic contamination in bengal delta and its health effects

Abstract

Arsenic contamination of groundwater has been detected in more than 70 countries and has become a major public health concern worldwide (Bundschuh et al. Environ Geochem Health 32:307-315, 2010). Arsenic contamination in groundwater of Southeast Asian regions received significant interest in recent years. In this region, countries affected with As in groundwater include Bangladesh, several states of India, Nepal, Myanmar, Pakistan, Vietnam, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Cambodia, several provinces of China (Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Xinjiang, Ningxia, Jilin, Shandong, Qinghai, Sichuan, Anhui, Heilongjiang, Henan, Gansu, Jiangsu, Yunnan and Hunan) and lowlands of Sumatra in Indonesia (Rahman et al. Environ Geochem Health 31:9-21, 2009; Yu et al. Environ Health Perspect 115:636-642, 2007).