-------------------------------------------------------------------
[ http://snipurl.com/6klp redirects to full URL:
http://toxsci.oupjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/79/2/287?
maxtoshow=&HITS=2&hits=2&RESULTFORMAT=&andorexacttitle=and&titleabstr
act=arsenic&andorexacttitleabs=and&andorexactfulltext=and&searchid=10
84995284756_36147&stored_search=&FIRSTINDEX=&fdate=4/28/2004&usestric
tdates=yes&journalcode=toxsci&ct]

Ronald C. Wester, Xiaoying Hui, Sherry Barbadillo, Howard I.
Maibach, Yvette W. Lowney, Rosalind A. Schoof, Stewart E. Holm, and
Michael V. Ruby.  In Vivo Percutaneous Absorption of Arsenic from
Waterand CCA-Treated Wood Residue.  Toxicol. Sci. 2004 79:287-295.

Abstract:  This study was conducted to evaluate the dermal
absorption of arsenic from residues present on the surface of wood
preserved with chromated copper arsenate (CCA).  The research
reported herein used methods parallel to those of earlier research
on the dermal absorption of radiolabeled arsenic (R. C. Wester et
al., 1993, Fund. Appl. Toxicol. 20, 336�340), with modifications to
allow use of environmental matrices that are not radiolabeled.
These modifications include the surface area of application and
dietary intake of arsenic, thus maximizing the potential for
detection of dermally absorbed arsenic in exposed animals above diet-
associated background levels of exposure.  Two forms of arsenic were
administered in this work.  The first, arsenic in solution, was
applied to the skin of monkeys to calibrate the model against prior
absorption research and to serve as the basis of comparison for
absorption of arsenic from CCA-treated wood residues.  The second
substrate was residue that resides on the surface of CCA-treated
wood.  Results from this research indicate that this study
methodology can be used to evaluate dermally absorbed arsenic
without the use of a radiolabel.  Urinary excretion of arsenic above
background levels can be measured following application of soluble
arsenic, and absorption rates (0.6�4.4% absorption) are consistent
with prior research using the more sensitive, radiolabeled
technique.  Additionally, the results show that arsenic is poorly
absorbed from CCA-treated wood residues (i.e., does not result in
urinary arsenic excretion above background levels).


-------------------------------------------------------------------
[ http://www.thedailystar.net/2004/05/19/d40519060255.htm ]

Removal of Arsenic From Water - 'Household filtration is cost-
effective'.  The Daily Star (Dhaka), 19 May 2004.

Household filtration process to remove arsenic from groundwater has
proved cost-effective and easy to use, said the speakers at a day-
long roundtable yesterday.
They said the household filtration process costs less than Tk 240
for a family of about four people a year.

The speakers pointed out that in practice community-based arsenic
removal plants like harvesting of rainwater and pond-sand filters
are not popular because of technical reasons.

On the other hand, the low cost filters have already proved
acceptable and popular during the field-testing, they added.

The speakers said removal of arsenic from three different types of
water by oxidation and co-precipitation methods has proved very
effective.  After filtration, contamination level almost comes down
to zero, said the experts studying the filters at field level.

"We want to find a meaningful, practical and cost-effective solution
to the arsenic problem," said Nasrin R Karim, director general of an
NGO Earth Identity Project that organised the roundtable
titled 'Dhaka Water': Policy, Strategy, and Dialogue.

During the briefing session, Unicef officials informed that out of
464 upazilas, 265 have been identified as 'hot spots' where more
than 60 percent tubewell water is contaminated.

"Epidemiology of the arsenic is still uncertain. In same family one
member is seen to have serious effect from drinking contaminated
water while others drinking from the same source have no effect at
all," they added.  "It is not understood yet but we have a big
challenge ahead," said Naseem-ur-Rahman, chief of information and
advocacy section of Unicef.

Paul Edwards, head of water and sanitation of Unicef, Dr Han
Heijnen, head of environment department of WHO, Enayetullah Khan,
editor of the New Age, Khoda Bux, director of Bangladesh Arsenic
Mitigation Water Supply Project and Unicef officials from West
Bengal spoke at the roundtable supported by Embassy of Finland,
Unicef and DFID.  The roundtable was a follow up of the roundtable
titled 'Arsenic Crisis Today-Strategy for Tomorrow' held in July,
2001.


-------------------------------------------------------------------
[From the free email newsletter SOURCE WATER AND SANITATION WEEKLY.
See website http://www.irc.nl/source ]

ARGENTINA: arsenic afflicting provincial water supplies

Dangerous levels of arsenic in drinking water are are having a
devastating effect on the health of the people of Chaco province,
parts of the northwest provinces of Tucuman and Salta, and the
central provinces of Cordoba and La Pampa. In all cases, the high
levels have been found in water drawn from underground sources, says
Myrta Ryczel, spokesperson of the health protection and promotion
agency. To date, efforts to remove the arsenic have failed. Aluminum
salts were tried, but with little success, Ryczel says. Tucuman
province is experimenting with other metallic salts and results have
been more encouraging, she adds. Reverse osmosis is the most
effective method of removing arsenic from water but is expensive,
according to the Chlorine Chemistry Council [1] representative
Jeffrey Sloan. At a household level, filters which use flocculants
to make the arsenic particles coagulate in the water are also
effective. Technically there is no reason why arsenic cannot be
removed from water, but the funding has to be in place.

[1] CCC is a business council of the American Chemistry Council,
based in Arlington, USA

See also: Arsenic remediation technologies: online informational
database by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
http://www.mit.edu/people/murcott/arsenic/database.html

(BNamericas.com (subscription site), 12 May 2004,
http://www.bnamericas.com/sector.xsql?id_sector=4&Tx_idioma=I)


-------------------------------------------------------------------
[From the free email newsletter SOURCE WATER AND SANITATION WEEKLY.
See website http://www.irc.nl/source ]

LESSONS LEARNED – Arsenic exposure has effect on children's
intellectual function, Bangladesh

A new study [1] reveals a strong association between arsenic
exposure from contaminated wells and intelligence in children in
Bangladesh. The results adds urgency to the need for effective
remediation in Bangladesh and other regions of south Asia where
consumption of arsenic contaminated water is prevalent.

Exposure to arsenic (As) has long been known to have neurological
consequences in adults, although to date there are no well-
controlled studies in children. The study reports results of a cross-
sectional investigation of intellectual function in 201 ten year-old
children of parents who participated in an ongoing prospective
cohort study examining health effects of arsenic exposure in 12,000
residents of Araihazar, Bangladesh.

Children's intellectual function on tests drawn from the Wechsler
Intelligence Scale for Children-III (WISC-III) was assessed by
summing weighted items across domains to create Verbal, Performance
and Full Scale raw scores. Children provided urine specimens for
measuring urinary As and creatinine, and were asked to provide blood
samples for measuring blood lead and hemoglobin concentrations.

Exposure to As from drinking water was associated with reduced
intellectual function after adjustment for sociodemographic
covariates and water manganese(MN). Water arsenic was associated
with reduced intellectual function, in a dose-response fashion, such
that children with water As > 50 µg/L achieved significantly lower
Performance and Full Scale scores than children with water As < 5.5
µg/L. The association was generally stronger for well water As than
for urinary As.

[1] Wasserman, G.A. <...> et al. (2004). Water arsenic exposure and
children's intellectual function in Araihazar, Bangladesh.
Environmental Health Perspectives, http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.6964

See also: Child health: repeated bouts of diarrhoea affect IQ,
Source, 12 Jan 2004, http://www.irc.nl/content/view/full/7703

Contact: Dr. Gail A. Wasserman, Department of Psychiatry, College of
Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York City, NY
10032, USA, mailto:wassermg@...


-------------------------------------------------------------------
[ http://highwire.stanford.edu/cgi/medline/pmid;15138027 ]

MP Waalkes, J Liu, JM Ward, and BA Diwan.  Mechanisms underlying
arsenic carcinogenesis: hypersensitivity of mice exposed to
inorganic arsenic during gestation.  Toxicology 20 May 2004 198(1-
3): p. 31.

Abstract:  Inorganic arsenic is an important human carcinogen of
unknown etiology.  Defining carcinogenic mechanisms is critical to
assessing the human health hazard of arsenic exposure but requires
appropriate model systems.  It has proven difficult to induced
tumors in animals with inorganic arsenic alone.  Several groups have
studied the carcinogenic potential of inorganic arsenic in rodents,
finding it to act as co-promoter or co-carcinogen, but not as a
complete carcinogen.  As gestation is a time of high sensitivity to
chemical carcinogenesis, we performed two in utero exposure studies
with inorganic arsenic.  In the first study, pregnant mice received
drinking water containing sodium arsenite at 0 (control), 42.5 and
85ppm arsenic from gestation day 8 to 18, and the offspring were
observed for up to 90weeks.  As adults, male offspring developed
hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and adrenal tumors after in utero
arsenite exposure.  Although liver tumors were not induced by
arsenic in female offspring, they did develop lung carcinoma,
ovarian tumors, and uterine and oviduct preneoplasia.  In a second
study, the same doses of arsenic were used and the skin tumor
promoting phorbol ester, TPA, was applied to the skin after birth in
an effort to promote skin tumors potentially initiated by arsenic in
utero.  TPA did not promote dermal tumors after in utero arsenite
exposure.  Otherwise, results from the second chronic study largely
duplicated the first and, irrespective of additional TPA exposure,
arsenic exposure in utero induced HCC and adrenal tumors in males
and ovarian tumors in females.  In addition, combined arsenic and
TPA induced a significant increase in hepatocellular tumors in
female offspring, although arsenic alone was not effective.  Thus,
in utero inorganic arsenic exposure can act as a complete carcinogen
in mice, with brief exposures consistently inducing tumors at
several sites.  In addition, it appears gestational arsenic can act
as a tumor initiator in the female mouse liver, inducing liver
lesions that can be promoted by TPA.

-------------------------------------------------------------------
[ http://highwire.stanford.edu/cgi/medline/pmid;15138028 ]

AH Smith and MM Smith.  Arsenic drinking water regulations in
developing countries with extensive exposure…Toxicology 20 May 2004
198(1-3): p. 39.

Abstract:  The United States Public Health Service set an interim
standard of 50microg/l in 1942, but as early as 1962 the US Public
Health Service had identified 10microg/l as a goal which later
became the World Health Organization Guideline for drinking water in
1992.  Epidemiological studies have shown that about one in 10
people drinking water containing 500microg/l of arsenic over many
years may die from internal cancers attributable to arsenic, with
lung cancer being the surprising main contributor.  A prudent public
health response is to reduce the permissible drinking water arsenic
concentrations.  However, the appropriate regulatory response in
those developing countries with large populations with much higher
concentrations of arsenic in drinking water, often exceeding
100microg/l, is more complex.  Malnutrition may increase risks from
arsenic.  There is mounting evidence that smoking and arsenic act
synergistically in causing lung cancer, and smoking raises issues of
public health priorities in developing countries that face massive
mortality from this product.  Also, setting stringent drinking water
standards will impede short term solutions such as shallow
dugwells.  Developing countries with large populations exposed to
arsenic in water might reasonably be advised to keep their arsenic
drinking water standards at 50microg/l.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
[ http://highwire.stanford.edu/cgi/medline/pmid;15142763 ]

G Samanta, R Sharma, T Roychowdhury, and D Chakraborti.  Arsenic and
other elements in hair, nails, and skin-scales of arsenic victims in
West Bengal, India. Sci Total Environ 29 Jun 2004 326(1-3): p. 33.

Abstract:  For the first time, biological tissues (hair, nails, and
skin-scales) of arsenic victims from an arsenic affected area of
West Bengal (WB), India were analyzed for trace elements.  Analysis
was carried out by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-
MS) for 10 elements (As, Se, Hg, Zn, Pb, Ni, Cd, Mn, Cu, and Fe).  A
microwave digester was used for digestion of the tissue samples.  To
validate the method, certified reference materials-human hair (GBW
07601) and bovine muscle (CRM 8414)-were analyzed for all elements.
The W test was used to study the normal/log normal distribution for
each element in the tissue samples.  For hair (n=44) and nails
(n=33), all elements show log-normal distribution.  For skin-scale
samples (n=11), data are not sufficient to provide the information
about the trend.  Geometric mean, standard error, and range for each
element were presented and compared with literature values for other
populations.  This study reveals the higher levels of toxic elements
As, Mn, Pb, and Ni in the tissue samples compared with available
values in the literature.  The elevated levels of these toxic metals
in the tissues may be due to exposure of these elements through
drinking water and food.  The correlations of Mn and Ni with other
essential elements, e.g. Fe, Cu, Zn, suggest that Mn and Ni may
substitute for those elements in hair, nails, and skin-scales.
However, correlation represents the relation between two elements
only and does not take into consideration of the presence of other
elements. Principle component analysis was applied to explain the
behavior among the elements present in hair and nails. This study
reveals that in the arsenic-affected areas of WB, the concentrations
of other toxic elements in drinking water and foodstuff should be
monitored to evaluate the arsenic poisoning.


-------------------------------------------------------------------
[ http://highwire.stanford.edu/cgi/medline/pmid;15144789 ]

T Dittmar.  Hydrochemical processes controlling arsenic and heavy
metal contamination in the Elqui river system (Chile).  Sci Total
Environ 5 Jun 2004 325(1-3): p. 193.

Abstract:  Severe arsenic poisoning from drinking water has been
documented in Northern Chile.  However, the Elqui River, which
provides water for approximately 200000 people in this region, is
poorly studied and no data on contaminants have been published to
date.  In this study, trace elements and the main aqueous
constituents were monitored for approximately 2 years in the entire
river system.  Aqueous species of trace elements were determined via
thermodynamic equilibrium calculations, and two operationally-
defined suspended fractions were analyzed.  Chalco- and arsenopyrite
deposits in the upper Andes, in conjunction with mining and
geothermal activity, were identified as exclusive point sources of
heavy metals and arsenic.  The annual input to the river system was
approximately (t year(-1)): Fe 600, Mn 110, Cu 130, Zn 35 and As
2.0.  The confluence with pH-buffered waters in the upper river
system caused collapse of iron hydroxide colloids and
coprecipitation of all heavy metals, e.g. dissolved copper
concentrations decreased from approximately 100 to approximately 0.2
micromol l(-1), which is still of ecotoxic concern.  The heavy metal
enriched suspended solids settled only in the lower Elqui River.
Arsenate did not adsorb to suspended solids and behaved strictly
conservatively, exceeding the WHO guideline value for drinking water
(0.13 micromol l(-1)) in the entire river system.  Decontamination
may be accomplished with reasonable efforts upstream in direct
vicinity to the sources via coprecipitation, settling and
appropriate pH adjustment for arsenate adsorption.


-------------------------------------------------------------------
[ http://highwire.stanford.edu/cgi/medline/pmid;15138026 ]

Y Xia and J Liu.  An overview on chronic arsenism via drinking water
in PR China.  Toxicology 20 May 2004 198(1-3): p. 25.

Abstract:  Chronic endemic arsenism via drinking water was first
found in Taiwan in 1968, and reported in Xinjiang Province in
mainland China in the 1980s.  Arsenism has become one of the most
serious endemic diseases in China in the last two decades.  Up to
now, the disease has been found in Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Ningxia,
Jilin and Qinghai provinces.  According to the Chinese maximum limit
standard of arsenic (As) in drinking water, over 2 millions people
have been exposed to high arsenic and about 10,000 persons were
diagnosed as arsenism patients.  There are different As
concentrations in the water of different sites, even in the same
area.  Most of the As concentrations range from 0.05 to 2.0mg/l.
The incidence of arsenism increases as As concentrations in drinking
water and the drinking time increase.  The age distribution of
patients with arsenism ranged from 3 to 80 years old with peak
prevalence in adults.  A dose-effect relationship between the status
of arsenism and arsenic level and drinking time has been shown.  New
high-arsenic areas in China have been discovered during recent
investigations.  In order to reduce the adverse health effects of
arsenism, the central and local governments of China have provided
significant funds to change water levels of As and at the same time
take general measures to "reduce arsenic intake, remove arsenic from
the body and treat the patients".  After the implementation of these
control measures in certain regions, the clinical symptoms and signs
of 30% of the patients were improved.  There was no change in 52% of
patients and only 18% of patients got worse.  It is suggested that
future work in the research and control of arsenism in China should
include: (1) identify all the high arsenic areas in China, (2) study
the association of arsenism with fluorosis, (3) determine individual
susceptibility, (4) select biomarkers for diagnosis in the early
stage of a arsenism, and (5) investigate the molecular mechanisms of
carcinogenesis.

Greetings all,

Here are several arsenic crisis related news articles and a
scientific article not previously reported in arsenic-crisis or the
ACIC website ( http://bicn.com/acic ).

All authors:  PLEASE do post information about your recent and
upcoming arsenic crisis related publications to arsenic-
crisis@yahoogroups.com !

Regards

Sara Bennett
Moderator

-----------
[not available online - that I can find]

Bailing Arsenic from Bangladesh's Water.  Water Technology News,
August 2003 v11 i5 p0 -  COPYRIGHT 2003 Business Communications
Company, Inc.

Developing a simple two-bucket system, Canada-based aluminum
conglomerate Alcan is hoping to give Bangladeshi villagers an easy
and effective way to decontaminate arsenic-riddled groundwater.
Connected by a hose, the first bucket is colored red and is filled
with granules of alumina, an aluminum oxide. When arsenic-laced
water is poured in, the alumina molecules bond with the arsenic,
removing the poison. The purified water then flows into the second
bucket, colored green, ready to drink.

The product, called Actiguard, is a simplified version of a product
Alcan already sells to communities in the United States for
filtering well water laced with a variety of impurities from arsenic
to zinc. Alcan developed an enhanced alumina granule that's shaped
in such a way that the amount of exposed surface is maximized,
thereby increasing contact between the water and alumina molecules
and giving the alumina more opportunities to grab onto the arsenic.
Alcan says maintenance of the two-bucket system is easy. The buckets
need to be cleaned periodically to remove residue and debris, and
the alumina granules have to be replaced when they lose their
adsorption. The company says the spent granules can be mixed into
concrete and used to pave roads.

Alcan estimates that the buckets cost about $3.20 per person per
year.

Contact: Ken Evans, Alcan Inc., 1188 Sherbrooke St. West, Montreal,
Quebec, Canada H3A 3G2; Tel: 514/848-8000, Fax: 514/848- 8115.

---------------------
[ http://ehpnet1.niehs.nih.gov/docs/2003/5966/abstract.html ]

Arsenic Groundwater Contamination in Middle Ganga Plain, Bihar,
India: A Future Danger?  Dipankar Chakraborti, Subhash C. Mukherjee,
Shyamapada Pati, Mrinal K. Sengupta, Mohammad M. Rahman, Uttam K.
Chowdhury, Dilip Lodh, Chitta R. Chanda, Anil K. Chakraborti, and
Gautam K. Basu.  Environmental Health Perspectives Volume 111,
Number 9, July 2003.

Abstract:  The pandemic of arsenic poisoning due to contaminated
groundwater in West Bengal, India, and all of Bangladesh has been
thought to be limited to the Ganges Delta (the Lower Ganga Plain),
despite early survey reports of arsenic contamination in groundwater
in the Union Territory of Chandigarh and its surroundings in the
northwestern Upper Ganga Plain and recent findings in the Terai area
of Nepal.  Anecdotal reports of arsenical skin lesions in villagers
led us to evaluate arsenic exposure and sequelae in the Semria Ojha
Patti village in the Middle Ganga Plain, Bihar, where tube wells
replaced dug wells about 20 years ago.  Analyses of the arsenic
content of 206 tube wells (95% of the total) showed that 56.8%
exceeded arsenic concentrations of 50 ug/L, with 19.9% > 300 ug/L,
the concentration predicting overt arsenical skin lesions. On
medical examination of a self-selected sample of 550 (390 adults and
160 children), 13% of the adults and 6.3% of the children had
typical skin lesions, an unusually high involvement for children,
except in extreme exposures combined with malnutrition. The urine,
hair, and nail concentrations of arsenic correlated significantly (r
= 0.72-0.77) with drinking water arsenic concentrations up to 1,654
ug/L. On neurologic examination, arsenic-typical neuropathy was
diagnosed in 63% of the adults, a prevalence previously seen only in
severe, subacute exposures. We also observed an apparent increase in
fetal loss and premature delivery in the women with the highest
concentrations of arsenic in their drinking water. The possibility
of contaminated groundwater at other sites in the Middle and Upper
Ganga Plain merits investigation.


---------------------
[ http://www.sciencenews.org/20021123/fob6ref.asp ]

Arsenic Agriculture?  Irrigation may worsen Bangladesh's woes.  B.
Harder. Science News, Nov 23, 2002 v162 i21 p325(2).  Full text
copyright 2002 Science Service, Inc.

Researchers investigating an unfolding, massive epidemic of arsenic
poisoning in Bangladesh say they have evidence that local irrigation
practices may be contributing to the problem.

Charles F. Harvey of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and
his colleagues now posit that pumping water for irrigation alters
the flow of subterranean water in ways that draw naturally occurring
arsenic into aquifers.

But other researchers investigating the region's geology argue that
the new finding supports only a limited culpability for irrigation.
They point their fingers instead at buried peat deposits, which they
say foster chemical reactions that introduce the arsenic into
aquifers. Officials need to know the process behind the poisoning to
minimize the health impacts.

The people of Bangladesh depend on millions of wells dug since 1970
for irrigation and drinking water. Years into the flurry of
construction, scientists discovered that many of the wells contain
toxic concentrations of arsenic, which can cause various cancers and
other health problems (SN: 4/6;/02, p. 214). Seventy-seven million
Bangladeshis are either sick from or considered at high risk for
arsenic-related diseases.

To explore whether the expanding practice of irrigation since the
1970s is related to arsenic contamination, Harvey and his colleagues
drilled 17 new wells--ranging in depth from 5 to 165 meters--on a
small plot in central Bangladesh. They measured the arsenic and
other substances in water and sediment extracted from cores bored
into the plot. Concentrations of both arsenic and dissolved organic-
carbon compounds increased with depth in the wells and reached peaks
at 30 to 40 m, the researchers report in the Nov. 22 Science.

The scientists also injected different fluids into the ground and
found that molasses, which is rich in organic-carbon, rapidly
increased arsenic concentrations in the test wells. Harvey's team
suggests that organic carbon feeds chemical reactions that liberate
arsenic from minerals in the soil. The poison then dissolves in
water and migrates into aquifers.

Pumping of well water for irrigation in the past few decades has
accelerated the speed at which carbon-rich surface water moves
downward to replenish aquifers, the researchers argue. They estimate
that it may take as little as 7 years for pumping to draw dissolved
organic carbon down to a depth of 30 m, deep enough to enter aquifer
systems.

Although the study makes "a very valuable contribution," says Peter
Ravenscroft of Cambridge, England, he's not convinced that arsenic
enters aquifers only when surface water percolates rapidly downward.
That model doesn't explain why arsenic is a severe problem in parts
of the country where irrigation is uncommon, says Ravenscroft, a
long-time water geologist in Bangladesh.

Meanwhile, he and John M. McArthur of University College London
argue that buried deposits of peat may better account for the
overall pattern of arsenic poisoning. If organic carbon from
irrigation were as important as Harvey's group suggests, then it
should be most concentrated at the surface, McArthur says. Peat
deposits, he points out, often are found at depths of 30 to 40 m,
just where Harvey's group detected the highest arsenic
concentrations.

Harvey notes that the plot his team studied may not be
representative of all affected areas. So, despite his team's
findings, he cautions against hasty changes in irrigation practices.


-------------------
[ http://www.sciencenews.org/20020406/fob6ref.asp ]

Blood vessel poisoning: arsenic narrows artery that feeds brain. B.
Harder. Brief Article, Science News, April 6, 2002 v161 i14 p214
(1).  Full text copyright 2002 Science Service, Inc.

New research suggests that drinking arsenic-laden water can produce
dangerous narrowing in the carotid artery, which channels blood
through the neck to the brain. The newly identified arsenic risk
joins a slew of health problems, including other cardiovascular
conditions and several cancers, previously linked to consumption of
the poisonous metal.

"Long-term arsenic exposure may lead to the progression or
acceleration of carotid artery disease," says Chien-Jen Chen of
National Taiwan University in Taipei, a member of the study team.

The metal's hormone-disrupting actions may underlie some of its
poisonous effects (SN: 3/17/01, p. 164). Other problems may result
from growth that arsenic might trigger in tissues such as those that
line artery walls, says Aaron Barchowsky of Dartmouth Medical School
in Hanover, N.H.

Several U.S. states and parts of countries such as Bangladesh,
Chile, and Taiwan have naturally high concentrations of arsenic in
groundwater. Worldwide, more than 100 million people are exposed to
high-arsenic water, Chen estimates. He and his colleagues have been
studying arsenic's health effects in southwestern Taiwan, where
tainted wells provided people with drinking water for more than half
a century before being phased out in the mid-1970s.

In the current study, Chen and his team questioned 436 people, all
of whom had lived near arsenic-contaminated wells for at least 6
months. The researchers asked the volunteers about factors that
could play a role in cardiovascular disease. Following the
interviews, the researchers used ultrasound scanning to identify
people whose carotid arteries exhibit atherosclerosis--vessel
narrowing because of either plaque formation or vessel-wall
thickening.

After accounting for other factors that affect the arteries--age,
sex, blood pressure, cholesterol concentration in blood, diabetes,
smoking, and alcohol use--the researchers found that both the
duration and degree of exposure to high-arsenic well water
correlates with an individual's carotid artery showing
atherosclerosis.

People who'd consumed high-arsenic water for 30 or more years were
more than three times as likely to suffer from carotid
atherosclerosis as were people who drank contaminated water for less
than 15 years. Study participants who drank contaminated water for
similar periods were about three times as likely to have carotid
atherosclerosis if their well contained at least 0.70 milligrams of
arsenic per liter than if it contained less than 0.05 mg/l, the
researchers report in the April 16 Circulation.

Because ultrasound enabled the researchers to gauge the
cardiovascular health of each participant--rather than only of those
who had suffered strokes and other cardiovascular ills--the new
study is more powerful than previous attempts to determine arsenic's
effect on arteries, says Allan H. Smith of the University of
California, Berkeley. However, he says, follow-up studies are needed
to confirm that arsenic-induced carotid atherosclerosis leads to
cardiovascular disease.

Combined with previous studies by the Taiwanese team, the new
research "clearly shows there is a cardiovascular risk associated
with drinking arsenic-laden water," says Barchowsky. Less clear has
been the persistence of arsenic's cardiovascular effects, he adds.
Since use of arsenic-tainted wells in Taiwan ceased 2 decades before
the team collected data for its study, it appears that health
effects can persist long after exposure, he says.

Dear Friends,

Please find "WHEN BANGLADESH’S GROUNDWATER ARSENIC
CONTAMINATION WAS FIRST DETECTED!" [at:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/arsenic-source/files/Chakraborti-2002-date-of-firs\
t-detection-of-BGD-As.doc

If the above URL appears on more than one line, you may have to manually cut and
paste all the bits into the address pane of your browser.

Or see the referring page

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/arsenic-source/files/

This] may be of your interest.

Sincerely yours,

Dipankar Chakraborti
Director and Head
School of Environmental Studies
Jadavpur University
Kolkata – 700 032, India
Tel: 91 33 24146233, 24146760
Fax: 91 33 24146266
E-mail: dcsoesju @ vsnl.com

Please note that the deadline for the submission of Abstracts is October 1,
2002! To register online

http://www-conference.slu.se/7thICOBTE/registration/index.htm

Dear ALL:

I am hereby sending you the announcement for the
Special Symposuim

(Copy & paste these URLs into the address pane of your browser - if on more than
one line, make sure to get all of them)

http://www.lwr.kth.se/personal/personer/bhattacharya.prosun/Special_Symposium_ar\
senic.htm

http://www.lwr.kth.se/People/Prosun/Special_Symposium_arsenic.htm

Arsenic in Soil and Groundwater Environments: Biogeochemical Interactions,

7th International Conference on Biogeochemistry of Trace Elements  (ICOBTE) 
June 15-19, 2003.

  Organized by:

       Richard H. Loeppert (USA)
       Soil and Crop Sciences Dept., Texas A&M University, College Station, TX
           77843-2474, USA
       Tel:  +1-979-845-3663, Fax: +1-979-845-0456 E-mail: r-loeppert @ tamu.edu

       Prosun Bhattacharya (Sweden)
       Dept of Land and Water Resources Engineering, Royal Institute of
           Technology, SE-10044 STOCKHOLM, Sweden
        Tel: +46 8 790 7399; Fax: +46 8 411 0775 E-mail: prosun @ kth.se

       Alan H Welch (USA)
       United States Geological Survey, Carson City, Nevada, USA
       Tel:  +1-775-887-7609, Fax: +1-775-887-7629  E-mail: ahwelch @ usgs.gov

Please circulate this information further to your colleagues so that we can come
up eith state of the art research findings on arsenic biogeochemistry.

Best wishes

Prosun.

*************************************************************
Dr. Prosun Bhattacharya
Docent, Associate Professor
Research Coordinator
Groundwater Arsenic Research Group
Department of Land and Water Resources Engineering
Royal Institute of Technology (KTH)
Brinellvägen 28
SE-100 44 STOCKHOLM
SWEDEN
Tel:+46 8 790 7399
Tel:+46 8 750 7098 (home)
Mobile:+46 70 697 4241
Fax:+46 8 411 0775
Email: prosun @ kth.se
WWW: http://www.lwr.kth.se/PEOPLE/Prosun/prosun.htm
Groundwater Arsenic Research Group (GARG)
WWW: http://www.lwr.kth.se/PEOPLE/Prosun/garg.htm
*************************************************************

This messaage is being reposted with hyperlinks to the documents referred
to. NB if hyperlinks don't work when clicked on, copy and paste them (if
the link is on more than one line, ALL lines, into the address pane of your
browser).

Mukherjee, A.B. & P. Bhattacharya (2001) Arsenic in groundwater in the Bengal
  Delta Plain: Slow Poisoning in Bangladesh. Environmental Reviews 9:189-220. At:
http://www.lwr.kth.se/Personal/personer/bhattacharya.prosun/Envrev9(3)ABM_PB.pdf

P. Bhattacharya, Jacks G., Jana J., Sracek A., Gustafsson J.P., and
Chatterjee D. 2001. Geochemistry of the Holocene Alluvial sediments of
Bengal Delta Plain from West Bengal, India: Implications on arsenic
contamination in groundwater. In: Jacks G., Bhattacharya P. and Khan
A.A. (Eds.) Groundwater Arsenic Contamination in the Bengal Delta
Plain of Bangladesh, KTH Special Publication, TRITA-AMI Report 3084,
pp.21-40. At:
http://www.lwr.kth.se/Personal/personer/bhattacharya.prosun/KTHDU_PB.pdf

P. Bhattacharya, G. Jacks, K.M. Ahmed, A.A. Khan, and J. Routh. (2002)
Arsenic in Groundwater of the Bengal Delta Plain Aquifers in Bangladesh.
Bull. Env. Cont. Toxicol. 69(4): October, 2002 (in press)  At:
http://www.lwr.kth.se/Personal/personer/bhattacharya.prosun/ECT_inpress.pdf

Dear Dr. Meer,

Thanks for your comments and repeated messages on explaining the scenario
on arsenic contamination in groundwaters. I had been deliberately deferring
my response for the availability of some time to respond to your questions
raised as subjects:

1. Dr. Bhattacharya et.al. must admit that their theories are wrong and based
on false data

2. Prof. Feroz Ahmed (BUET) must agree that his statements are wrong and based
on false data

3. [arsenic-source] Oxyhydroxide reduction: a wrong and misleading theory

and many others with more or less similar content.

In recent years, I have considered your hypothesis of water deficit as an
explanation for the mobilization of natural Arsenic in the sedimentary
aquifers of Bangladesh. Unfortunately I failed to understand the relavance of
your comments on that line too. This is primarily because if you have lack of
oxygenated water for recharge, the recharge from the wetland cultivation will
lead to substancial increase of  dissolved organic carbon (DOC) pool in
groundwater which would be sufficient enough to consume the electron donors in
groundwater.

Moreover, your assumption on dewatering of the upper aquifers as the mechanism
of oxidation of As-bearing pyrite in these  aquifers, we don not have adequate
sulfate in the groundwaters as an arguement for your supposition. This is
coupled to the logic that if we have oxygenated environment in the aquifers,
we must have the sulfate in groundwater, On the contrary, hydrogeochemical
signatures suggest that we are already in the sulfate reduction stage or even
below, evidenced by the presence of methane, which explains the reducing
character of these groundwaters. Moreover, if you see the redox sequence the
sulfate reduction stage is much below the Fe and Mn reduction stages-- what
is implied by the hypothesis of reductive dissolution of the Fe-Mn oxides in
the sedimentary aquifers -- which is no longer a hypothsis but a fact indeed.
I hope that these papers will be of some help to you for the understanding of
the hydrogeochemistry of the groundwaters in the sedimentay aquifers of the
Bengal Delta Plain in Bangladesh or else where in the world with similar
aquifer characteristics.

I will appreciate if you go through these papers and write back your comments.

In addition I would draw your attention to the publications:

P. Bhattacharya, Jacks, G., Frisbie, S.H., Smith, E., Naidu, R., & Sarkar B.
(2002) Arsenic in the Environment: A Global Perspective. In: B.Sarkar (Ed.)
Handbook of Heavy Metals in the Environment (Chapter 6), Marcell Dekker Inc.,
  New York, pp. 147-215.

P. Bhattacharya & Mukherjee, A.B. (2002) Management of arsenic contaminated
groundwater in the Bengal Delta Plain. In M. Chatterji, S. Arlosoroff, and S,
G. Guha (Eds.) Conflict Management of Water Resources (Chapter 18), Ashgate
Publishers, UK, pp.308-345.

Finally, I with due apologies, I must tell you Meer that we all on this
mailing list appreciate your comments, but you should try to be polite in your
expressions on this global platform like this arsenic-source mailing list and
help to maintain the dignity of this forum, which someone should ever read and
response.

Best regards

Prosun

*************************************************************
Dr. Prosun Bhattacharya
Docent, Associate Professor
Research Coordinator
Groundwater Arsenic Research Group
Department of Land and Water Resources Engineering
Royal Institute of Technology (KTH)
Brinellvägen 28
SE-100 44 STOCKHOLM
SWEDEN
Tel:+46 8 790 7399
Tel:+46 8 750 7098 (home)
Mobile:+46 70 697 4241
Fax:+46 8 411 0775
E-mail: prosun@...
WWW: http://www.lwr.kth.se/PEOPLE/Prosun/prosun.htm
Groundwater Arsenic Research Group (GARG)
WWW: http://www.lwr.kth.se/PEOPLE/Prosun/garg.htm
*************************************************************

I am hereby sending you an announcement for the
Special Symposuim

on

Arsenic in Soil and Groundwater Environments: Biogeochemical Interactions,

7th International Conference on Biogeochemistry of Trace Elements  (ICOBTE) 
June 15-19, 2003.

  Organized by:

       Richard H. Loeppert (USA)
       Soil and Crop Sciences Dept., Texas A&M University, College Station, TX
            77843-2474, USA
       Tel:  +1-979-845-3663, Fax: +1-979-845-0456 E-mail: r-loeppert@...

       Prosun Bhattacharya (Sweden)
       Dept of Land and Water Resources Engineering, Royal Institute of
            Technology, SE-10044 STOCKHOLM, Sweden
        Tel: +46 8 790 7399; Fax: +46 8 411 0775 E-mail: prosun@...

       Alan H Welch (USA)
       United States Geological Survey, Carson City, Nevada, USA
       Tel:  +1-775-887-7609, Fax: +1-775-887-7629  E-mail: ahwelch@...

Please circulate this information further to your colleagues so that we can come
up eith state of the art research findings on arsenic biogeochemistry.

Best wishes

Prosun.

*************************************************************
Dr. Prosun Bhattacharya
Docent, Associate Professor
Research Coordinator
Groundwater Arsenic Research Group
Department of Land and Water Resources Engineering
Royal Institute of Technology (KTH)
Brinellvägen 28
SE-100 44 STOCKHOLM
SWEDEN
Tel:+46 8 790 7399
Tel:+46 8 750 7098 (home)
Mobile:+46 70 697 4241
Fax:+46 8 411 0775
E-mail: prosun @ kth.se
WWW: http://www.lwr.kth.se/PEOPLE/Prosun/prosun.htm
Groundwater Arsenic Research Group (GARG)
WWW: http://www.lwr.kth.se/PEOPLE/Prosun/garg.htm
*************************************************************

The Disaster Forum Arsenic Fact Sheet #XVII Mar/Jun 2002 is now available online
at:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/arsenic-source/files/Disaster-Forum-Arsenic-Fact-S\
heet-No-XVII-Mar-Jun-2002.doc

This link starts a download of the Fact Sheet as an MS-Word file.  If
double-clicking on the link does not work, cut and paste it (all lines if more
than one) into the address pane of your browser.

To see all this and all other files available in the files area of
arsenic-source at yahoogroups.com, please visit:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/arsenic-source/files/

Regards

Dr. Sara Bennett
Moderator

Bangladeshis take British scientists to court over arsenic in drinking water

By Robert Verkaik Legal Affairs Correspondent
Courtesy: The Independent [UK; August 12, 2002]

<http://www.independent.co.uk/story.jsp?story=323650>

A group of Bangladeshis has begun legal proceedings at the High Court in London
against British scientists over allegations that they failed to prevent arsenic
poisoning of thousands of people.

In a writ lodged this week, the Bangladeshi villagers claim that the
British Geological Survey (BGS) was negligent in work it did in central and
eastern Bangladesh in 1992 to assess toxicity after aid programmes paid for
sinking new wells.

The claim form alleges that the agency did not test for arsenic, despite cases
of poisoning from wells in the neighbouring Indian state of West Bengal. As a
result, the villagers allege, five years passed before cases were first
diagnosed in Bangladesh.

In the lead case, Binod Sutradhar, 43, who lives in the village of Ramrail in
the country's Brahmanbaria region, claims he drank, on average, three litres of
groundwater a day from a tubewell contaminated with arsenic.

Mr Sutradhar has since been diagnosed with arsenicosis and has developed ulcers
and burns. Doctors say that he has become much more vulnerable to skin cancer
and other forms of cancer.

Levels of arsenic in the tubewell drinking water, when tested in December 2001,
were found to be much higher than recommended safety levels.

Mr Sutradhar, who has been awarded legal aid to bring his action in
Britain, is claiming for a loss in his earning capacity as a carpenter, because
he is only able to work two days per week. His solicitor Martyn Day, of the
solicitors Leigh Day & Co, said yesterday: "Thousands of Bangladeshis have
suffered the most serious injuries as a result of the arsenic contamination. On
the face of it, a significant amount of that suffering could have been avoided
if the BGS had tested for arsenic back in 1992."

Mr Day said their case was that the BGS could and should have undertaken that
test: "If this is right, they should be made to pay, just as they would be made
to pay if the same thing had happened in this country," he said.

Arsenic occurs naturally beneath much of Bangladesh. It is thought to be present
at dangerous levels in the water from up to five million wells sunk across the
country in the past 25 years.

A spokeswoman for the Natural Environment Research Council, which
represents the BGS, said it was aware that Leigh Day & Co was preparing legal
proceedings. She said: "We will be defending the action and do not believe we
have any liability in this case."

Over the centuries, Bangla-deshis have relied upon the multitudinous rivers and
streams that abound over the country's very flat land for water, much of which
lies beneath sea level. Unfortunately, the water supply has also been the route
for the country's sewage system and the confluence of the two has brought about
untold levels of death and disease through cholera.

Unicef, the UN's children's fund, funded the sinking of about a million bore
holes in the country to tap into the groundwater, which it believed would not be
contaminated.

I have uploaded a file I just received from Dipankar Chakraborti.

The link to download this file is on the page:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/arsenic-source/files/

The download link itself is:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/arsenic-
source/files/SOESArsenicReportJuly2002.doc

[You may have to cut & paste these URLs piece by piece if they
appear on more than one line.)

Regards

Sara Bennett
Moderator
arsenic-source

To Arsenic-Source,

I am writing to you in regards to about the arsenic contaminated
water supply in Bangladesh.  I work for Democracy Now, a daily
televised new show and would like to see if there are activists
and scientists who can share expertise.  We are looking for
someone who would be available for a phone interview
tomorrow 7/16 at 9 am eastern time and have specific
information in regards to the World Bank Involvement.  If anyone
knows how to contact Dipankar Chakravaborti, a phone # would
be very helpful.

How has water contamination effected the health of the people of
Dhaka?   I can be reached at the below number and at 212
431-9090 and at 716-864-2202.  Thanks in advance for your
time.

San

Dear arsenic-interested people,

May I call your attention to the problem of Arsenic contamination of
groundwater, which has become a serious problem in Bangladesh and other

low-lying developing nations. I would like to hear your opinions, ideas

and suggestions.  Please join us arsenic-interested people for
an online discussion.  To participate, please visit the link below:

http://www.worldwaterforum.org/for/en/spost.314_3301?s=0

Thank you in advance for your participation.

Attention:
To start a discussion and enable participants to post their messages,
the
participant needs to register first. (Click here to register
http://www.worldwaterforum.org/fuser/en/input )
Your password will be sent to the email address you used for
registration.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Orawan Vorakanonta
Yale University
School of Forestry & Environmental Studies
Master Candidate '03

Dear Doug Cragoe,

Please find herewith the fluoride victims in India.

1. The number of people affected by fluorosis, which causes dental problems,
gastroenteritis and crippling, is estimated at an appailing 25 million
      UNICEF, 1995.

2. An estimated 62 million people in India in 17 out of 32 states are affected
with dental, skeletal / or non-skeletal fluorosis.
A.K. Susheela, Current Science 27 (1999), 1250

3. You may read also our latest finding of fluorosis in Assam a new addition to
arsenic garland.
Fluorosis in Assam - India.  D. Chakraborti, C.R. Chanda, G. Samanta, U. K.
Chowdhury, S.C.Mukherjee, A.B. Pal, B. Sharma, K.J. Mahanta, H.A. Ahmed and B.
Sing.  Current Science, 78(12), 1421-1423, 2000.

Sincerely yours,

Dipankar Chakraborti
Director and Head
School of Environmental Studies
Jadavpur University
Calcutta – 700 032, India
Tel: 91 33 4735233
Fax: 91 33 4734266
Email: dcsoesju@...




Doug Cragoe wrote:

> Thanks for your reply.  I've received several from other researchers.
>
> I know this is a bit off the subject, but I would like to get your comments
> on fluoride contamination in India.  I know you have the Fluorosis Research
> & Rural Development Foundation headed by Dr. Susheela.  Do you agree with
> her estimates of skeletal fluorosis?  I've heard over a million people have
> skeletal fluorosis in India.  Some estimates are several million.  The
> number with some form of fluorosis (skeletal or dental) is much higher I
> imagine.
>
> If you add up all the countries with skeletal fluorosis, would it be fair to
> say that millions are affected by this worldwide?
>
> -Doug Cragoe
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: School of Environmental Studies [mailto:dcsoesju@...]
> Sent: Wednesday, February 06, 2002 2:18 AM
> To: Doug Cragoe
> Cc: arsenic-source@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: Re: [arsenic-source] Fluoride & arsenic?
>
> Dear Doug Cragoe,
>
> The geology of Deltaic Region i.e. the arsenic contaminated areas of West
> Bengal and Bangladesh is
> not prone for fluoride contamination. We also analyzed few hundred water
> samples for fluoride from
> delta area and none of them found contaminated.  Only in West Bengal
> non-deltaic area like Bankura,
> Birbhum are to some extent fluoride contaminated and also we expect fluoride
> in Bangladesh close to
> north,  that is areas bordering with fluoride contaminated Asam.
> Sincerely yours,
>
> Dipankar Chakraborti
> Director and Head
> School of Environmental Studies
> Jadavpur University
> Calcutta – 700 032, India
> Tel: 91 33 4735233
> Fax: 91 33 4734266
> Email: dcsoesju@...
>
> Doug Cragoe wrote:
>
> > Well water usually contains high levels of minerals, including fluoride.
> > I'm curious whether fluoride levels were also checked in areas where high
> > levels of arsenic were found. Is there any relationship here? My searches
> of
> > the discussion groups have turned up very little on this subject.
> >
> > In India fluoride contamination from well water is a big problem.  I
> wonder
> > if fluoride could be contributing to the ill health effects caused by the
> > arsenic.  For example, skin rashes attributed to arsenic could also be
> > caused or made more serious by fluoride.  A couple years ago a scientific
> > conference in China focused specifically on the problems of arsenic and
> > fluoride.
> >
> >
> > To unsubscribe email
> > arsenic-source-unsubscribe@egroups.com
> >
> > For info on the arsenic crisis in West Bengal (India) & Bangladesh, visit
> http://bicn.com/acic/
> >
> >
> >
> > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/

I would like to endorse the comments by Dr Chakraborti [at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/arsenic-source/message/169 ] that fluoride is not
a
major issue in the Bengal Delta, and is not coincident with arsenic
contamination.

However, fluoride is not absent from the delta. First, the BGS survey of
northeast Bangladesh in 1992 did find one or two exceedances of the
WHO drinking water guideline.

Secondly, in some of the deeper aquifers of the coastal zone, where ion exchange
processes result in very low calcium concentrations, the few data analysed by
DPHE-Danida suggest enrichment in fluoride, and hence a possible fluorite
solubility control. Although these analyses do not exceed drinking water
standards, other surveys have neglected this issue and there are too few
analyses to give confidence at this time.

Peter Ravenscroft
Hydrogeologist

In reply to Doug Cragoe's question re: fluoride & arsenic [arsenic-source
message #168 at

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/arsenic-source/message/168 ]:

The geology of Deltaic Region i.e. the arsenic contaminated areas of West Bengal
and Bangladesh is not prone for fluoride contamination. We also analyzed few
hundred water samples for fluoride from delta area and none of them found
contaminated.  Only in West Bengal non-deltaic area like Bankura, Birbhum are to
some extent fluoride contaminated and also we expect fluoride in Bangladesh
close to north,  that is areas bordering with fluoride contaminated Assam.

Sincerely yours,


Dipankar Chakraborti
Director and Head
School of Environmental Studies
Jadavpur University
Calcutta – 700 032, India
Tel: 91 33 4735233
Fax: 91 33 4734266
Email: dcsoesju @ vsnl.com

Well water usually contains high levels of minerals, including fluoride.
I'm curious whether fluoride levels were also checked in areas where high
levels of arsenic were found. Is there any relationship here? My searches of
the discussion groups have turned up very little on this subject.

In India fluoride contamination from well water is a big problem.  I wonder
if fluoride could be contributing to the ill health effects caused by the
arsenic.  For example, skin rashes attributed to arsenic could also be
caused or made more serious by fluoride.  A couple years ago a scientific
conference in China focused specifically on the problems of arsenic and
fluoride.

Dear Collegues,

Actualy, we have more than 400 answers for participation to the heavy
metals conference;

This XII International Conference on heavy metals in the environment -
ICHMET  in Grenoble - France (26 - 30 May 2003)
will be, we are sure, a great succes.

You can still register but we need your contribution to build a mailing
list as exact as possible:

family name
first name
Postal Address
phone
fax
e-mail
country

and send it back to the following e-mail adress :

          ichmetals @ glaciog.ujf-grenoble.fr

Christine ECHEVET
Secrétaire de la XII internationale conference on heavy metals on the
environnement
co-organisée par Christophe FERRARI et Claude BOUTRON
Laboratoire de Glaciologie et Géophysique de l'Environnement du CNRS
54, rue Molière
BP 96
38402 Saint Martin d'Hères cedex
Tel: + (33) 4 76 82 42 53
Fax: + (33) 4 76 82 42 01
e-mail: echevet@...

Dear All,

The arsenic problem of West Bengal surfaced in 1982.  Twenty years
passed.  What is the present situation?

Every year during January I sent to all working on arsenic or interested
on the arsenic groundwater contamination more information.

Please find our latest findings at

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/arsenic-source/files/Chakraborti-Jan-2002.doc

(or see http://groups.yahoo.com/group/arsenic-source/files/ )

Sincerely yours,


Dipankar Chakraborti
Director and Head
School of Environmental Studies
Jadavpur University
Calcutta – 700 032, India
Tel: 91 33 4735233
Fax: 91 33 4734266
Email: dcsoesju@...

LAST CALL FOR INFORMATION

Dear Collegues,

You have been informed that the next international conference on heavy
metals in the environment will be organised in Grenoble (FRANCE) from 26
May to 30 May 2003.

We are actively preparing it and we need your contribution in order to
build a mailing list as exact as possible.

So we will appreciate if you could answer :

family name
first name
Postal Address
phone
fax
e-mail
country



   and send it back to the following e-mail adress :

          ichmetals @ glaciog.ujf-grenoble.fr

You'll receive in the next weeks by mail the abstract submission form and
informations about the conference.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP

Claude BOUTRON
Christophe FERRARI

Don't hesitate to transmit the information to all interested researchers
around you
Christine ECHEVET
Secrétaire de la XII internationale conference on heavy metals on the
environnement
co-organisée par Christophe FERRARI et Claude BOUTRON
Laboratoire de Glaciologie et Géophysique de l'Environnement du CNRS
54, rue Molière
BP 96
38402 Saint Martin d'Hères cedex
Tel: + (33) 4 76 82 42 53
Fax: + (33) 4 76 82 42 01
e-mail: echevet @ glaciog.ujf-grenoble.fr

Dear All:

On January 6, 2002 Dr.Subangshu Acharya in his post [to arsenic-source, see
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/arsenic-source/message/162 ]indicated that on July
13, 2001 [in a post to Setubanbhan] he clarified and answered the questions
raised by Dr. Thomas Bridge and myself regarding the reduction and oxidation
mechanism for releasing arsenic into the groundwater of Bangladesh and West
Bengal of India.

I have reviewed his post of July 13, 2001 in which I could not find any logical
explanation and factual evidence that he answered the questions.

In his post of January 6, 2002 he did not even present any scientific
explanation that rejected the oxidation theory and supported the reduction
theory for the mobilization of arsenic into groundwater of Bangladesh and West
Bengal of India.  His explanations are based on misconception and improper
judgments.

However he fully agrees with me that there is a need of systematic discussion on
the source and the cause of arsenic poisoning because the people of Bangladesh
and West Bengal of India are confused about what is really causing this problem.
We believe the arsenic poisoning in Bengal Basin is a recent, and the largest
man-made disaster in the history of human civilization whereas Dr.Acharya,
Bhattacharya et.al., Ross Nickson et.al. and BGS investigators believe that
arsenic poisoning in Bengal Basin has been present for thousands of years.

Dear all,  we have been debating the oxidation/reduction issue for the last few
years.  Dr. Bhattacharya and Mr.Ross Nickson claim to be the pioneers of
oxyhydroxide reduction theory (in the context of Bengal Basin) but none of them
came up with any answer(s)/explanation(s) regarding the questions raised by Dr.
Bridge and myself as of yet.  These are professional questions and the answer to
these questions will give us a clear idea about the source and the cause of
arsenic disaster in Bangladesh and West Bengal of India and solution to this
problem.

Dear scientists, journalists, environmental activists and people of Bangladesh
and West Bengal of India, I strongly believe that without the help of the
international community no one can solve this problem. The solution to the
arsenic disaster in Bangladesh and west Bengal of India is a very expensive
matter.  In order to get help from international community we need to provide
them with right information regarding the source and the cause of poisoning. 
Wrong theories and improper judgments can not solve this problem.  We have to
establish the source and the cause of poisoning based on reliable data and
factual evidence.

In my next post I will respond to Dr.Acharya's post of January 6, 2002 and today
I would like to make brief comments on his post of July 13, 2001 and invite you
all to participate in this discussion.  This discussion will help us to
understand what is needed to be done to determine the source  and cause of
arsenic disaster and solution to the problem.

Dr.Acharya in his post stated that, "You have envisaged a combination of
oxidation related to drawdown of water table and reduction during following wet
season in your model. Oxidation can be operative only for very shallow wells.
Whereas, you consider that oxidation is the major cause, that do not follow from
your analysis but from strong 'belief.'"

Dr. Acharya, like all other opponents of oxidation theory, rejected the theory
based on the concept of low sulfate concentration in groundwater and presence of
insignificant amounts of arsenic bearing minerals, but they do not like to
consider/examine the other conditions of the oxidation mechanism and they do not
like to apply proper hydrological and hydrogeological and hydrochemical data and
principles, as a result they have failed to understand the role of oxidation
mechanism for releasing arsenic into groundwater.

Dr. Acharya does not consider the presence of arsenic bearing mineral in the
sediments as reported by Roy Chowdhury et.al. (Nature 1999).  I could not find
any logic behind his consideration.  Roy Chowdhury et.al's findings are based on
112 wells and 2235 samples whereas Dr. Acharya's justification is based on 25-65
samples from 4 wells only.

In order to verify/justify the findings of Roy Chowdhury et.al., Dr. Acharya
needs to collect "split samples."  It appears that he did not collect any split
samples from any of Roy Chowdhury's wells and without collecting and analyzing
he can not state that arsenic bearing minerals are not present in West Bengal
and he can not refute Roy Chowdhury's findings.  This is absolutely wrong and
unscientific judgment.

If Dr. Chakraborti does not have enough samples to share with him, then he
should provide Dr. Acharya with a map showing the location of wells and depth of
samples.  In Bengal Basin, the change of litho-facies is a common phenomenon. 
If Dr. Acharya drill/install wells a foot apart or very close to that of Roy
Chowdhury's wells and collect samples from the same depth he may find similar
samples as that of Roy Chowdhury et.al.  The analysis of these samples will
present whether Roy Chowdhury's data are correct or not.

On 12-12-2000, in response to Dr.Achary's comment regarding the oxidation
mechanism Dr. Chakraborti stated "Our samples were also cross-checked by USGS,
USA (Ref. Dr. Alan H. Welch, USGS, Carson City, Nevada). However this does not
mean pyrite oxidation is the only reason of groundwater arsenic contamination in
West Bengal and Bangladesh. We wrote in all our publications pyrite oxidation is
one of the possibilities and we have identified (and cross-checked by various
laboratories) and can say without any doubt after analyzing thousands of samples
the presence of arsenic-rich pyrite in sediment samples of W. Bengal"

Since Dr. Acharia does not believe Roy Chowdhury's data, he should verify the
cross examined data by USGS and other laboratories as indicated above by Dr.
Chakraborti.   If these cross examined data are available with Dr. Chakraborti,
I would request him to share these data with Dr. Acharya and us.

Finally, I would like state that even if Dr. Chakraborti's data appears to be
wrong, I am confident if the other conditions of oxidation mechanism are
examined, the complete investigation will prove that arsenic bearing minerals
were present in the sediments prior to the water diversion from rivers and over
pumping of groundwater.

The opponents of oxidation theory did not conduct any detail investigation to
verify the validity of oxidation mechanism and without doing that they have
rejected the oxidation theory and proposed the Oxyhydroxide reduction theory
which is a wrong and misleading theory for the mobilization of arsenic into
groundwater of Bangladesh and West Bengal of India.  Therefore, Oxyhydroxide
reduction theory is not an acceptable theory for the mobilization of arsenic
into groundwater of Bangladesh and west Bengal of India.

Dear All:

Several scientists and environmentally concerned people requested me to respond
to Prof. Feroz Ahmed's article that was published on June 15, 2001 in "The New
Nation", Dhaka, Bangladesh.  I replied that the groundwater arsenic poisoning in
Bangladesh is a geological problem and Prof. Ahmed knows it very well.  I do not
know why Prof. Ahmed is writing such a misleading article.   Prof. Ahmed should
not make misleading statements on the source and the cause of the arsenic
poisoning in Bangladesh, because the source and the cause of the arsenic
disaster in Bangladesh are geological problems.  There is no doubt that the
readers of  "The New Nation" have been mislead and misguided by Prof.Ahmed's
following statement:

"The oxidation hypothesis in Bangladesh is not getting support in the absence of
widespread arsenopyrite in Bangladesh. The intensity of arsenic problem has not
been found to have any relationship with groundwater fluctuations. Similarly,
the hot spots in Bangladesh are not located in areas of high withdrawal of
groundwater for irrigation. At the same time, very low concentration of sulfate
in groundwater is also contrary to pyrite oxidation hypothesis. The traces of
arsenopyrite or arsenic sulfides found in sediments might have possibly been
formed under enhanced reduced conditions.  Hence, the hypothesis of arsenic
release by oxidation of top layer of soil is not being considered as main
mechanism of groundwater contamination in Bangladesh."

We know that Prof. Ahmed's above statement is wrong and based on misconceptions
as well as a lack of professional experience in dealing with soil and
groundwater contamination projects.  Bhattacharya et.al. first proposed the
Reduction theory and rejected the Oxidation theory.  We requested them several
times to explain and answer the following questions but they could not come up
with any answer(s)/explanation(s) as of yet.  We as professional geologists
certainly know that they do not have any reliable data to answer these
questions.  In other words, their work is based on false data.  Prof. Ahmed
should know that Bhattacharya et.al. are geologists.  If Prof. Feroz Ahmed feels
that he is capable of justifying/verifying the source and the cause of the
groundwater arsenic poisoning in Bangladesh, and feels that his statements are
correct we are respectfully requesting him to answer and explain the following
questions:

"Please explain:

1.  Why the "Oxyhydroxide Rerduction Theory" should not be considered a wrong
and misleading theory for the mobilization of arsenic into the groundwater of
Bangladesh and West Bengal of India?

2.  Why the concept of "low sulfate concentration in the groundwater of the
Bengal Basin" that you and Bhattacharya et.al.  considered as a main criterion
for the rejection of the oxidation theory, should not be considered unscientific
and an improper judgement?


Please answer:

1.  If the Oxyhydroxide Reduction hypothesis is correct and if arsenic was
present in an adsorbed form on iron hydroxide for thousands of years and existed
in a solution for thousands of years in the aquifer groundwater of the Bengal
Basin without being flushed out to sea, how did the people of Bangladesh and
West Bengal of India avoid the arsenic poisoning when thousands of people drank
water from dugwells for thousands of years and from thousands of tubewells for
60 to 70 years, prior to the 1970s?

2. Also please explain how millions of people in Bangladesh who had been
drinking water from millions of tubewells during the interval between the 1960's
and prior to 1975, before the construction of dams/barrages and diversion of
surface water by India from the Ganges, Tista, and 28 other common rivers of
Bangladesh and India, lack signs of arsenic poisoning?"

We as geological professionals, having experience in the investigation,
remediation and monitoring of soil and groundwater contamination projects, would
like to inform Prof. Feroz Ahmed and others who have rejected the oxidation
theory and have accepted the Reduction theory, that the answer of the above
mentioned questions will provide scientists,  journalists, environmentally
concerned people, and the policy-makers of Bangladesh and West Bengal of India
with a clear picture regarding the source and the real mechanism responsible for
the mobilization of arsenic into the groundwater, and a permanent solution to
the arsenic disaster of Bangladesh and West Bengal of India.

We are urging engineers, chemists, and other scientists who do not have sound
education/training on the  geology, hydrology, hydrogeology and geochemistry and
experience in investigation, remediation and monitoring of soil and groundwater
contamination projects, to not write and/or publish misleading article(s)
regarding the source and the cause of the groundwater arsenic poisoning in
Bangladesh and West Bengal of India.

Respectfully,

Meer Husain, P.G.
Environmental Geologist

Reply:

1. The questions raised by Meer Hussain in his e-mails dated 17
and 25 Dec 2001 have been raised before by him.
Most of these points were clarified in my e-mail dated
13 Jul in [the] Setubanbhan [discussion group]. In discussion that followed
it appeared that it is his firm conviction rather than
logic that played dominant role and there was more
heat than light. Even then let me once again put
forward my views in this matter.

2. Mr Hussain regards that low SO4 in arsenic affected
groundwater is not a valid objection against the
oxidation model for release of arsenic to
groundwater. The main evidence for oxidation model is
common presence of pyrite and other arsenic-bearing
sulfides in affected aquifer that release arsenic on
their oxidation. But studies in Bangladesh by Mott
Macdonald(1999) and our study in West Bengal
demonstrate that pyrite of any other arsenic bearing
sulphide is very rare or absent from the affected
aquifer. Biogenic pyrite is present in rare cases and
these occur in association with organic rich
sediments. These are clearly formed in reducing
conditions and these would act as sinks and not source
of arsenic on their later oxidation if at all.

3. If "oxidation ruled" the release of arsenic, then
dugwell and pond waters were expected to be most
toxic.  Observation is just the opposite.

4. Our study reveals that arsenic contaminated aquifer
are mainly confined to organic rich argillaceous
deltaic sedimentation in the Bengal Basin (Acharyya et
al., 2000, Env.Geol)

5. Mr Hussain questions why arsenic problem has
cropped up in recent time why it was not recognized
earlier?  Hussain believes that is was triggered by
several dams built on major rivers of Bangladesh.  But
he does not explain the logical connection.  Nor there
are any other examples of such a relation.  Why there
is no such correlation with other river valleys and
arsenic problem in groundwater.

6. Exploitation in large scale of groundwater for
irrigation and drinking purposes is a recent
phenomenon in the Bengal basin.  And this appears to
have triggered arsenic problem.  Arsenic affected
groundwater is from shallow aquifer and has typical
isotopic signature.  The shallow aquifers are
continually getting recharged.  The deep aquifers free
of arsenic are isotopically distinct.  Some deep wells
that have become contaminated has water similar to
shallow aquifer. Thus these are leaked water from
contaminated shallow aquifer.  Normal hydrologic
conditions are not recharging the deep aquifers.

7. The process of natural and partly enhanced recharge
of shallow aquifer, because of extensive groundwater
abstraction has enforced movement of groundwater along
with strongly reducing degraded organic products from
the host and overlying sediments.  Movement of degraded
organic product enriched groundwater through the FeOOH
bearing sediments, would enhance reduction of
arsenic-bearing FeOOH and release arsenic to
groundwater (Acharyya, 2001).

8. A parallel case to that of Bengal basin is with the
arsenic contaminated groundwater reported from Red
River delta in Vietnam (Berg et al., 2001,
Env. Sci. Technol. ).  In this case also it was found
that extensive application of groundwater for
irrigation and for drinking purposes were made since
about 5-7 years.  But although, people are consuming
arsenic toxic water no cases arsenicosis has yet been
diagnosed.  It takes 7-10 yr time before such
manifestation is identified.

S. K. Acharyya
15, Dr. Sarat Banerjee Road, Kolkata - 700029
Emeritus Scientist,CSIR,Dept Geological Sciences,
Jadavpur University, Kolkata 700032
Phone 465-1712

Hard copies of report on Arsenic Contamination of Groundwater in Bangladesh now
available.

This report is an output of studies conducted by the British Geological Survey
and the Department of Public Health Engineering of the Government of Bangladesh,
with funding from DFID.

A limited number of complimentary copies are available to bonafide organisations
working within Bangladesh in the field of arsenic mitigation. Requests should be
sent on headed paper to DFID Manager (Water & Sanitation), House No 42, Road No
28, Gulshan, Dhaka.

Copies may also be purchased from Graphosman, 3/3-C Purana Paltan, Karim Mansion
(1st Floor), Dhaka-1000.

Enquiries from outside Bangladesh should be addressed to Dr D G Kinniburgh at
the British Geological Survey (email dgk@...).

Details are also available on the Internet at www.bgs.ac.uk/arsenic/bangladesh/

Rodney Dyer, DFID Manager (Water and Sanitation)
c/o UNICEF Bangladesh Country Office
OR c/o Dept of Public Health Engineering, Dhaka

An international conference on heavy metals in the environment will be organised
in Grenoble (FRANCE) from 26 May to 30 May 2003.

We are actively preparing it and we need your contribution in order to
build a mailing list as exact as possible.

[If you are interested, reply to this message or email

          ichmetals @ glaciog.ujf-grenoble.fr

-Moderator]

You'll receive in the next weeks by mail the abstract submission form and
informations about the conference.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP

Claude BOUTRON
Christophe FERRARI

Don't hesitate to transmit the information to all interested researchers
around you

Christine ECHEVET
Secrétaire de la XII internationale conference on heavy metals on the
environnement
co-organisée par Christophe FERRARI et Claude BOUTRON
Laboratoire de Glaciologie et Géophysique de l'Environnement du CNRS
54, rue Molière
BP 96
38402 Saint Martin d'Hères cedex
Tel: + (33) 4 76 82 42 53
Fax: + (33) 4 76 82 42 01
e-mail: echevet @ glaciog.ujf-grenoble.fr

Please find at

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/arsenic-source/files/Nepal-Chitrakar-Neku-Scenario\
-As-Drinking-Water

a copy of recent paper entitled, "The Scenario of Arsenic in Drinking Water in
Nepal" presented at the "SAARC Regional Conference on Environmental Pollution
and its Control" held in Kathmandu on December 3 and 4, 2001.

This paper was submitted to arsenic-source by Amar Neku, POBox 8975 EPC 1881,
Kathmandu, Tel  977-01-531078 / 977-01-531373, e-mail aneku @ enet.com.np

If you have trouble with the above link, visit the arsenic-source files page at

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/arsenic-source/files/

and download the file there -- the file description is "Nepal-Chitrakar+Neku,
Scenario As Drinking Water".

Sara Bennett
arsenic-source moderator

There are a small number of procedures that can be used for arsenic
speciation in the field.  I suggest the papers by Ficklin, AWWA and
Clifford.  The newer papers by Clifford use a commercially
available `prep-disk' that is very easy to use. These are all ion
exchange based separations.  There are some commercially available
speciation kits in the US but it is easy enough to build your own.  I
can give you more details later.

A combination of field separation and one of the field detection
methods will work.  The Arsenator, As-Top and Hach semi-quantitative
tests, and Biotest can all quantify inorganic arsenic in ion exchange
eluant.  Brand new on the market are TraceDetect devices that use
anode stripping potential that can do inorganic speciation.  ETV
Battelle is currently validating several of these tests and results
are expected soon. The lowest detection you will get in a field
method is about 1-5 ppb.  Some speciation methods result in sample
dilution

To the best of my knowledge, none of the field tests can quantify any
of the organic arsenic compounds such as MMAA and DMAA.  You have to
use one of the hyphenated IC separation methods or pH dependant
hydride generation.  You might be able to add a digestion in the
field.  Some of the field methods will separate organic arsenic but
most count it in the As3+ fraction.  To separate `organic arsenic' in
the field you can oxidize a portion of the `As3+' aliquot, adjust the
pH again (~2.5) and subject it to another separation.  The problem is
the multiple dilutions and matrix effects from oxidizers lower the
sensitivity of some detection methods

Costs are variable.  Field speciation will cost ~$10-50 per sample to
build the kits yourself.  The low end is inorganic only, the high end
is As3, As5, MMAA and DMAA (combined).  To buy speciation kits is $60-
150 each kit.  Detection is also variable in cost.  Instrumental
methods are $5000-10000 plus reagents.  Semi-quantitative HgBr based
color kits are $2-10 per sample.

I hope this gives you a start. Good Luck!

Gregory P. Miller

At low pH values (4<pH<7), As(V) is retained on an anion exchange resin, while
As(III) is not.

Therefore, you can split a sample. Keep one part for  total As determination.
Run the other part through an anion exchange column and keep the effluent.
Analyze both samples for total As by atomic absorption, ICP-MS, or any other
suitable method.

As(V) is total As minus As(III). I doubt that any of the field kits are
sufficiently precise or accurate to do As speciation in the field. See W. H.
Ficklin, Talanta 30:371(1983) and M. Edwards et al., J. Am. Water Works Assoc.
90:103(1998).

Dear Dr. Prosun Bhattacharya, Dr.Aftab Alam Khan, Dr.Badrul Imam, and Dr.Gunnar
Jacks:

You have collected and analyzed soil and groundwater data regarding the source
and the cause of the groundwater arsenic problem of Bangladesh and West Bengal
of India. I believe like everyone else, you have the same objective, i.e. to
find the source and cause of the groundwater arsenic poisoning and a solution to
the problem.

We would like to inform you that the criterion, the concept of "low sulfate
concentration in the groundwater" of the Bengal Basin, that you used for the
rejection of the oxidation theory is a misconception and an improper scientific
judgement.  In order to accept or reject the oxidation/pyrite oxidation theory,
the conditions of the oxidation mechanism must be examined and verified with
adequate and reliable geological, hydrological, hydrogeological and geochemical
data/parameters. It appears that you did not examine the conditions of the
oxidation theory at all, and without proper investigation you rejected the
oxidation theory.

On the other hand you proposed the Oxyhydroxide Reduction theory as the main
mechanism responsible for releasing arsenic into the groundwater of BDP.  We
examined this theory based on available geological, hydrological,
hydrogeological, geochemical, historical groundwater use data, and historical
medical data.  According to our analysis, it appears that the oxyhydroxide
reduction theory is a wrong and misleading theory for the mobilization of
arsenic into the groundwater of Bangladesh and West Bengal of India.

Dear Doctors, we believe you are working on the arsenic problem of Bengal Basin
to help the people of Bangladesh and West Bengal of India and save them from the
arsenic disaster, but have you ever thought of about how the people of
Bangladesh and West Bengal of India are being misleaded and misguided by your
improper judgements?

We as your professional colleauges strongly feel that you need to immediately
re-examine and correct your data/criteria that you used for establishing the
oxyhydroxide reduction and rejecting the oxidation theories.  I strongly believe
neither you, me, or any other scientists have the right to mislead millions of
arsenic poisoned people and the scientific community, due to the lack of
knowledge and experience to find the real cause of the groundwater arsenic
poisoning in Bangladesh and West bengal of India.

If you do not agree with my above explanation, I am respectfully requesting you
to explain:

1.  Why the oxyhydroxide reduction theory will not be considered a wrong and
misleading theory for the mobilization of arsenic into groundwater of Bangladesh
and West Bengal of India?

2.  Why the concept of the "low sulfate concentration in the groundwater of the
Bengal Basin" that you used as a main criterion for the rejection of the
oxidation theory will not be considered unscientific and an improper judgement?

Your answer to these questions are essential in order to find the real cause of
the arsenic poisoning and the solution to the arsenic disaster in Bangladesh and
West Bengal of India.

Respectfully,

Meer Husain
Environmental Geologist

Dear all,

While preparing a field-campaign, I am searching for a kit or a
method, which allows to analyze the arsenic speciations As(III) and
As(V) in field.

Does anyone have an idea or is experienced with this problem?

Thank you,
Frank Wagner

Scientists are divided regarding the source and the
mechanism responsible for releasing arsenic into the
groundwater of Bangladesh. One group supports the
oxyhydroxide reduction mechanism, whereas the other
group claims that the oxidation mechanism is
responsible for releasing arsenic into the groundwater
of the Bengal Basin.

The proponents of the Oxidation theory (Dr. Bridge,
Mr. Husain, Dr. Fanning, Dr. Chakraborti), presented
some data, explanations, logical arguments, and
evidence that support the oxidation theory and reject
the oxyhydroxide reduction theory for the mobilization
of arsenic into the groundwater of Bangladesh, in
their articles, scientific discussions, and
correspondences.

On the other hand the proponents of Oxhydroxide
Reduction theory, (BGS/DPHE/MML investigators, Ross
Nickson & Dr. McArthur et. al. and Dr. Bhattacharya
and Dr. Gunnar Jacks et. al.), collected data in
support of the Oxyhydoxide Reduction theory. According
to the proponents of the Oxidation theory, the
above-mentioned sceintists, rejected the Oxidation
theory without any investigations/study and proposed
the Oxyhydroxide Reduction theory based on speculation
and unreliable data. The proponents of the Oxidation
theory have also challenged the proponents of the
Oxyhydroxide reduction theory to present data and
evidence in support of their claims.

On June 15, 2001 Prof. Feroz Ahmed of the Bangladesh
University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) stated
in his article (The New Nation, Bangladesh) entitled
"Causes of Arsenic Contamination": "The oxidation
hypothesis in Bangladesh is not getting support in the
absence of widespread arsenopyrite in Bangladesh. The
intensity of arsenic problem has not been found to
have any relationship with groundwater fluctuations.

"Similarly, the hot spots in Bangladesh are not located
in areas of high withdrawal of groundwater for
irrigation. At the same time, very low concentration
of sulfate in groundwater is also contrary to pyrite
oxidation hypothesis. The traces of arsenopyrite or
arsenic sulfides found in sediments might have
possibly been formed under enhanced reduced
conditions.

"Hence, the hypothesis of arsenic release
by oxidation of top layer of soil is not being
considered as main mechanism of groundwater
contamination in Bangladesh.  The study of sediment
samples collected from different arsenic-prone areas,
lying mostly in lower Gangetic plain has shown
arsenic-rich oxide coatings of varying thickness on
sand grains.  Evidences suggest that reductive
description and dissolution of arsenic absorbed onto
iron oxyhydroxides in recent sediments can be the most
probable mechanism of arsenic mobilization in
groundwater."

On September 16, 2001, Mr. Abdul Quddus in his article
entitled "Arsenic Contamination of Drinking Water and
Why it is bad" which was published in The Bangladesh
Observer, stated: "The most widely accepted scientific
view is that arsenic is released into the groundwater
because of a natural *reducing* chemical environment
that exists in Bangladesh*s shallow aquifers i.e., the
oxyhydroxide reduction theory. This is where the
minerals and rocks to which the arsenic elements are
naturally bound are slowly "reduced" and as this
happens any arsenic present is released. As this
reducing environment exists only below the water below
the water table any arsenic released contaminates the
groundwater.

"The present arsenic crisis, therefore, is
the result of a naturally occurring geological
phenomenon, and not due to human intervention."

Prof Feroz Ahmed is a civil engineer. He does not have
strong geological knowledge and enough experience to
collect and analyze geological, hydrogeological and
geochemical data related to geological problems. As a
result, his statement regarding the cause of
groundwater arsenic poisoning in Bangladesh is not
credible.

We do not know about the expertise and
professional experience of Mr. Quddus to justify the
source and the mechanism of groundwater arsenic
poisoning in Bangladesh. From our discussions with the
scientists who proposed the Oxyhydroxide reduction
theory and rejected the Oxidation theory, we can tell
that Mr. Quddus* above statement is not based on sound
scientific data. It appears that both Prof. Feroz and
Mr. Quddus compiled their statements from the
BGS/DPHE/MML investigative report.

Geologist Dr. Bridge and Mr. Husain were the first
scientists to strongly oppose the Oxyhydroxide
Reduction theory because the proponents of
Oxyhydroxide Reduction theory could not present
sufficient reliable data in support of their theory.

We are requesting prof. Feroz and Mr. Quddus to
present data that support the Oxyhydroxide reduction
theory for the mobilization of arsenic into
groundwater. According to the articles and scientific
discussions of Dr. Bridge, Mr. Husain, Dr. Fanning,
and Dr. Chakraborti it is evident that Oxyhydroxide
reduction theory is an incorrect theory proposed by
BGS/DPHE/MML and other investigators.

Recently geologists Dr. Bridge and Mr. Husain raised
two important questions to verify the validity of both
the oxyhydroxide reduction and Oxidation theories and
they also requested scientists who proposed the
oxyhydroxide reduction theory and opposed the
oxidation theory to answer these questions.

As Prof. Feroz and Mr. Quddus have accepted the Oxyhydroxide
Reduction theory, we are requesting both Prof. Feroz
and Mr. Quddus to answer these questions:

1. If the oxyhydroxide reduction hypothesis is correct
and if arsenic was present in an adsorbed form on iron
hydroxide for thousands of years and existed in a
solution for thousands of years in the aquifer
groundwater of the Bengal Basin without being flushed
out to sea, how did the people of Bangladesh and West
Bengal of India avoid the arsenic poisoning when
thousands of people drank water from dugwells for
thousands of years and from thousands of tubewells for
60 to 70 years, prior to the 1970s?

2. Also please explain how millions of people in Bangladesh who had
been drinking water from millions of tubewells during
the interval between the 1960's and prior to 1975,
before the construction of dams/barrages and diversion
of surface water by India from the Ganges, Tista, and
28 other common rivers of Bangladesh and India, lack
signs of arsenic poisoning?

Dr. Bridge and Mr. Husain are professional geologists.
They have extensive experience in dealing with soil
and groundwater contamination. They strongly believe
that "The answers to these questions will tell us
whether the groundwater arsenic poisoning in Bengal
delta has been present for thousands of years or if it
is a recent environmental problem.  The answers of
these questions will also tell us whether the
groundwater arsenic poisoning is occurring under a
natural process or is a man-made disaster.  Finally,
the answers will tell us about the source and cause of
the arsenic poisoning and the solution to the
problem".

If Prof. Feroz Ahmed, and Mr. Quddus have any
difficulty to understand these questions, we request
both Prof. Feroz and Mr.Quddus to review the following
articles written by Bridge & Husain. These articles
will help them to understand the above questions
raised by Bridge and Husain

1. Roots of Arsenic Poisoning, The Financial Express,
News From Bangladesh, Shetubondhon, Arsenic Source
Group, September 2001.

2. Arsenic Crisis: A challenge for scientists to find
the origin of arsenic that caused the poisoning
disaster in Bangladesh, The Bangladesh Observer, News
From Bangladesh, Shetubondhon, Arsenic Source group,
November 2000.

3. Oxyhydroxide Reduction and Agrochemical Hypotheses:
Myth or Reality?

4. The Financial Express, News From Bangladesh,
Shetubondhon, June 2000.

5. Increased Drawdown and Recharge in groundwater
Aquifer and their relationship with groundwater
Arsenic poisoning in Bangladesh, News From Bangladesh,
Shetubondhon, 2000.

Prof. Feroz Ahmed, you are an engineer and we believe
you are familiar with river water discharge data of
the major rivers of Bangladesh and we also believe
that you also teach your students about hydrology of
Bangladesh. Did you notice that BGS/DPHE/MML
investigators in their investigative report did not
include the post-Farakka discharge data of major
rivers of Bangladesh but they presented the
pre-Farakka discharge data?

In his article "Roots of Arsenic Poisoning", Meer Husain stated "The
BGS/DPHE/MML investigators in their investigative
report presented pre-Farakka long term river water
discharge data of the Ganges (Padma), Bhramahputra,
and Meghna rivers, but they did not present the
post-Farakka river water discharge data.  They do not
have any idea about what has happened in the
hydrological, hydro-geological and hydro-chemical
cycles of Bengal Basin in the last two decades.
Twenty-six years of water diversion from 30+
dams/barrages has had a great role for the
mobilization of arsenic into the groundwater of
Bangladesh.

Dear scientists, journalists, and environmentally
concerned people who really want to save the people of
Bangladesh from the arsenic poisoning, please take a
look at the following pre and post Farakka river water
discharge data of the Ganges river.  The pre- Farakka
discharge data are based on the BGS/DPHE/MML Phase-1
investigative report (Groundwater studies for arsenic
contamination in Bangladesh, 1999) and the
post-Farakka discharge data are based on
G. Hebblethwaite's research entitled "The Impacts and
Implications of the Farakka Barrage upon Bangladesh"
B.S. thesis, University of New Castle upon Tyne, U.K.
(1997).

Pre-Farakka Discharge (before 1975) in Cu.M/Sec:

Rivers        Avg Annual Discharge          Avg Dry Season Discharge

Ganges (Padma)       11,450                  2,730
Brahmaputra          19,500                  7,270
Meghna                3,586                    930


Post Farakka Discharge (after 1975) in Cu.M/Sec:

Rivers    10 y Avg Annual Disch     10 y Avg Annual Disch    6 y Avr Disch
                 (1975-1984)             (1985-1994)           (1991-1996)

Ganges (Padma)       1090                   670                   440
Brahmaputra            _                     _                     _
Meghna                 _                     _                     _

Please take a close look at how the discharge in the
Ganges (Padma) River in Bangladesh has been decreased
due to India's unilateral diversion for the last 26
years.  Prior to 1975, in the dry season, the areas in
Bangladesh that were under water for thousands of
years are now dry land.  The pre and post Farakka
discharge data clearly indicate why Bangladesh is
having severe environmental problems including
groundwater arsenic poisoning since 1975.

The BGS/DPHE/MML investigators probably did not know
the recent human activities (i.e. construction of
dams, barrages, reservoirs, power plants, diversion of
rivers water and over-pumping of groundwater etc.)
that have caused severe damage in the ecosystem of the
Bengal Basin; consequently they have failed to
understand and recognize the real cause of the
groundwater arsenic poisoning in Bangladesh".

Prof. Feroz and Mr. Quddus, can you tell us why the
BGS/DPHE/MML investigators did not include
post-Farakka discharge data? The BGS/MML investigators
(Foreigner) might have not known the impact of water
diversion by Farakka and other rivers. But we wonder
why you and other DPHE (Bangladeshi) investigators did
not raise questions about the post-Farakka discharge
data of the major rivers of Bangladesh.

Prof. Feroz and Mr.Quddus, if you really know the
source and the cause of arsenic poisoning in
Bangladesh we encourage you to present your data and
explanation(s) that support the Oxyhydroxide Reduction
Theory. However, if you do not have a sufficient
educational background or experience to justify the
source and the cause of the arsenic poisoning in
Bangladesh, please do not make any further misleading
statements. The unprofessional statement will cause
more harm than good for the people of Bangladesh.

The source and the cause of groundwater arsenic poisoning
in Bangladesh is a geological problem and we are
requesting experienced geologists, geochemists, and
hydro-geologists to continue their discussion on the
arsenic problem of Bangladesh and West Bengal of
India. We would also like to know from them, what
action needs to be done to discover the actual cause
of the arsenic poisoning in the Bengal Basin.

Thanking you.

S.M. Rahman