water by arsenic in Bangladesh: a public health emergency

bladder and skin cancers. The rapidallocation of funding and prompt expansion of current interventions to address this contamination should befacilitated. The fundamental intervention is the identification and provision of arsenic-free drinking water. Arsenic israpidly excreted in urine。

Elena O. Lingas。

1093 - 1103 WHO Team Water， and for early or mild cases， Sanitation， withmillions of people exposed. This paper describes the history of the discovery of arsenic in drinking-water inBangladesh and recommends intervention strategies. Tube-wells were installed to provide pure water to preventmorbidity and mortality from gastrointestinal disease. The water from the millions of tube-wells that were installedwas not tested for arsenic contamination. Studies in other countries where the population has had long-termexposure to arsenic in groundwater indicate that 1 in 10 people who drink water containing 500 mg of arsenic perlitre may ultimately die from cancers caused by arsenic， no specific treatment is required. Community education andparticipation are essential to ensure that interventions are successful; these should be coupled with follow-upmonitoring to confirm that exposure has ended. Taken together with the discovery of arsenic in groundwater inother countries。

including lung，78(9)。

the experience in Bangladesh shows that groundwater sources throughout the world that are usedfor drinking-water should be tested for arsenic. Bulletin of the World Health Organization， Hygiene and Health (WSH) Editors Allan H. Smith， Mahfuzar Rahman Number of pages 11 Copyright World Health Organization ， Contamination of drinking-water by arsenic in Bangladesh: a public health emergency 29 April 2000 Journal article Overview The contamination of groundwater by arsenic in Bangladesh is the largest poisoning of a population in history，。