The following release details Apyron Technologies' latest work in India
regarding the arsenic crisis.
Contact:
Sherry Odom
Apyron Technologies, Inc.
678-405-2707
slodom@...
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Arsenic Crisis Reaches Epidemic Proportions
Apyron Technologies Provides Safe Solution for Remote Villages in India
ATLANTA, February 26, 2001 -- The Indian government has stepped up its
efforts to aggressively fight back against arsenic, a poisonous element
contaminating drinking water in many regions of the country. With the
number of people potentially at risk from arsenic poisoning reaching
epidemic proportions, the government has made a strong appeal to
international relief agencies to assist in purchasing much needed water
treatment units. UNICEF, the international relief agency, was the first to
respond to this request via a grant to the Public Health and Engineering
Directorate (PHED) of West Bengal. The PHED will use this grant to fund the
installation of multiple groundwater Arsenic Treatment Units (ATUs) designed
and engineered by Atlanta-based Apyron Technologies, a material sciences
technology company. It is estimated that the installation of these units
will provide safe drinking water to more than 4,500 villagers.
On February 20, 2001, the West Bengal Assembly recognized the advantages of
groundwater treatment units over other types of treatment methods, such as
surface water treatment, and urged their installation within the arsenic
prone areas. Apyron's ATU, designed to treat arsenic contaminated
groundwater, is the only technology to be designated as "Best Available
Treatment Technology" by the PHED thus far. In response to this, the PHED
has selected this technology for installation in other arsenic-plagued
villages. Apyron began installation of its ATUs in India during 1997
through a series of field demonstrations.
"There is an urgent need to install ATUs in all of the affected areas of
West Bengal," said Mr.
R. K. Tripathy, Minister of PHED for West Bengal. "We applaud UNICEF for
being the first relief agency to help us tackle this crisis. Given that
over 10 million people are currently exposed to arsenic poisoning, and that
number is now growing everyday, we are appealing to the international relief
agencies for their assistance in dealing with this epidemic."
Dr. Allan H. Smith of the University of California at Berkley noted in the
Bulletin of the World Health Organization 2000, that "The scale of this
environmental disaster is greater than any seen before; it is beyond the
accidents at Bhopal, India, in 1984, and Chernobyl, Ukraine, in 1986." His
research shows that 1 in 10 people will die of cancers caused by long-term
exposure to arsenic at levels greater than 500 ppb.
Beginning in March, Apyron will install the UNICEF funded ATUs in the Maldah
district of West Bengal, about 400 kilometers north of Calcutta. Villages
receiving the ATUs will be selected by the PHED using survey results of the
affected areas. The PHED has also issued a request to the central Indian
government for funds to purchase 7,000 treatment units, providing safe water
for an additional 1.5 million people.
Arsenic is a metallic element that occurs both naturally and from human
activity. Its presence in ground water is largely the result of geochemical
soil leaching.
Apyron CEO Rom Papadopoulos, who earned his medical degree from the
Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki in Greece, said that arsenic in
water has been linked to several types of cancer as well as cardiovascular
disease, diabetes, and developmental and neurological disorders. "Arsenic
really is an insidious toxin," he said. "It has no smell, usually no taste
and absorbs quickly into bodily tissues."
Within India, the West Bengal region has especially high concentrations of
arsenic in drinking water, far exceeding World Health Organization standard
of 10 parts per billion. In the United States, the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency has recently issued a new standard lowering that limit to
10 parts per billion.
In Bangladesh, where arsenic contaminated drinking water is being
experienced in even greater numbers, Apyron has installed five units serving
four villages of about 400-500 people each and anticipates the installation
of several thousand units later in the year.
About Apyron Technologies
Apyron develops and markets advanced material science technology solutions
that improve the quality of life. Applications for Apyron's proprietary
technologies include air and water purification, transportation, energy,
pharmaceuticals, health care, food, beverages and agriculture. Founded in
1994, the Atlanta-based private company has more than 40 employees,
including internationally respected chemists and scientists, and projects in
multiple countries. For more information, please visit www.apyron.com.
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