May 29, 1998

Arsenic killing people of India

Dr. Dipankar Chakraborti

The horror began in 1978 as people began dying with mysterious skin lesions. Villagers thought it was leprosy, scientists and doctors speculated the malady was caused by pesticides seeping into well water. No one suspected arsenic.

Arsenic occurs naturally in subsoils of west Bengal and Bangladesh in the form of arsenic sulfides. These complexes are usually tightly bound in soil particles but can, under specific conditions, be released from the soil and enter groundwater.

Dr. Dipankar Chakraborti director of the School of Environmental Studies at Jadavpur University in Calcutta visited campus last week to deliver a guest lecture at a recent environmental risk management seminar series sponsored by the Eco-Research Chair. Chakraborti and his colleagues believe the large-scale withdrawal of ground water causes fluctuation of the water table and regular intake of oxygen within the pore space of the sediments. They think this inflow breaks down sulfides in the arsenic-laden pyrite rock through oxidization and releases arsenic into the water.

Chakraborti blames the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF and the World Bank for developing an irrigation system dependent on groundwater resources. Thousands of expensive tube wells were drilled to irrigate the high-yield crops in Bangladesh during the dry season. Millions of dollars have been donated by the international community to make Bangladesh more self-sufficient. "They should have tested the water for arsenic and they didn't. They are to blame," says Chakraborti. "Aid organizations think they can come in and clean-up our problems, but they don't do their research. Now we are faced with an enormous problem."

Symptoms range from lesions and large lumps on the hands and feet to a variety of skin ailments and death. "I am most worried about the children because they often do not show skin lesions before the age of 11. We also do not know the extent of internal damage that might be affecting organs," says Charkraborti. "Villagers come to see me from far away begging me to cure them." There is no cure for advanced stages of poisoning but studies have shown that those who have very low levels of arsenic in their blood can "increase their health if they eat better, drink safe water and exercise."

The problem is affecting 138,000 square km of West Bengal, with a population of 38.6 million people. The proposed solution is a 25 million dollar water main to pipe clean water supplies from elsewhere. About 20,000 Indians have been affected by arsenic tainted water and researchers at universities in Calcutta estimate an additional 30 million people could be affected.

Folio front page

Office of Public Affairs

University of Alberta