Safeguarding groundwater from arseniferous aquifers

Safeguarding groundwater from arseniferous aquifer

Consumption of Brown Rice: A Potential Pathway for Arsenic Exposure in Rural Bengal

This study assesses the arsenic (As) accumulation in different varieties of rice grain, that people in rural Bengal mostly prefer for daily consumption, to estimate the potential risk of dietary As exposure through rice intake. The rice samples have been classified according to their average length (<i>L</i>) and <i>L</i> to breadth (<i>B</i>) ratio into four categories, such as short-bold (SB), medium-slender (MS), long-slender (LS), and extra-long slender (ELS). The brown colored rice samples fall into the SB, MS, or LS categories; while all Indian Basmati (white colored) are classified as ELS. The study indicates that the average accumulation of As in rice grain increases with a decrease of grain size (ELS: 0.04; LS: 0.10; MS: 0.16; and SB: 0.33 mg kg^–1), however people living in the rural villages mostly prefer brown colored SB type of rice because of its lower cost. For the participants consuming SB type of brown rice, the total daily intake of inorganic As (TDI-iAs) in 29% of the cases exceeds the previous WHO recommended provisional tolerable daily intake value (2.1 μg day^–1 kg^–1 BW), and in more than 90% of cases, the As content in the drinking water equivalent to the inorganic As intake from rice consumption (<i>C</i>_W,eqv) exceeds the WHO drinking water guideline of 10 μg L^–1. This study further demonstrates that participants in age groups 18–30 and 51–65 yrs are the most vulnerable to the potential health threat of dietary As exposure compared to participants of age group 31–50 yrs, because of higher amounts of brown rice consumption patterns and lower BMI

Testing Tubewell Platform Color as a Rapid Screening Tool for Arsenic and Manganese in Drinking Water Wells

A low-cost rapid screening tool for arsenic (As) and manganese (Mn) in groundwater is urgently needed to formulate mitigation policies for sustainable drinking water supply. This study attempts to make statistical comparison between tubewell (TW) platform color and the level of As and Mn concentration in groundwater extracted from the respective TW (<i>n</i> = 423), to validate platform color as a screening tool for As and Mn in groundwater. The result shows that a black colored platform with 73% certainty indicates that well water is safe from As, while with 84% certainty a red colored platform indicates that well water is enriched with As, compared to WHO drinking water guideline of 10 μg/L. With this guideline the efficiency, sensitivity, and specificity of the tool are 79%, 77%, and 81%, respectively. However, the certainty values become 93% and 38%, respectively, for black and red colored platforms at 50 μg/L, the drinking water standards for India and Bangladesh. The respective efficiency, sensitivity, and specificity are 65%, 85%, and 59%. Similarly for Mn, black and red colored platform with 78% and 64% certainty, respectively, indicates that well water is either enriched or free from Mn at the Indian national drinking water standard of 300 μg/L. With this guideline the efficiency, sensitivity, and specificity of the tool are 71%, 67%, and 76%, respectively. Thus, this study demonstrates that TW platform color can be potentially used as an initial screening tool for identifying TWs with elevated dissolved As and Mn, to make further rigorous groundwater testing more intensive and implement mitigation options for safe drinking water supplies

Risk of Arsenic Exposure from Drinking Water and Dietary Components: Implications for Risk Management in Rural Bengal

This study investigates the risk of arsenic (As) exposure to the communities in rural Bengal, even when they have been supplied with As safe drinking water. The estimates of exposure via dietary and drinking water routes show that, when people are consuming water with an As concentration of less than 10 μg L^–1, the total daily intake of inorganic As (TDI-iAs) exceeds the previous provisional tolerable daily intake (PTDI) value of 2.1 μg day^–1 kg^–1 BW, recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 35% of the cases due to consumption of rice. When the level of As concentration in drinking water is above 10 μg L^–1, the TDI-iAs exceeds the previous PTDI for all the participants. These results imply that, when rice consumption is a significant contributor to the TDI-iAs, supplying water with an As concentration at the current national drinking water standard for India and Bangladesh would place many people above the safety threshold of PTDI. We also found that the consumption of vegetables in rural Bengal does not pose a significant health threat to the population independently. This study suggests that any effort to mitigate the As exposure of the villagers in Bengal must consider the risk of As exposure from rice consumption together with drinking water

Table_1_Association of household fuel with acute respiratory infection (ARI) under-five years children in Bangladesh.docx

In developing countries, acute respiratory infections (ARIs) cause a significant number of deaths among children. According to Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS), about 25% of the deaths in children under-five years are caused by ARI in Bangladesh every year. Low-income families frequently rely on wood, coal, and animal excrement for cooking. However, it is unclear whether using alternative fuels offers a health benefit over solid fuels. To clear this doubt, we conducted a study to investigate the effects of fuel usage on ARI in children. In this study, we used the latest BDHS 2017–18 survey data collected by the Government of Bangladesh (GoB) and estimated the effects of fuel use on ARI by constructing multivariable logistic regression models. From the analysis, we found that the crude (the only type of fuel in the model) odds ratio (OR) for ARI is 1.69 [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.06–2.71]. This suggests that children in families using contaminated fuels are 69.3% more likely to experience an ARI episode than children in households using clean fuels. After adjusting for cooking fuel, type of roof material, child's age (months), and sex of the child–the effect of solid fuels is similar to the adjusted odds ratio (AOR) for ARI (OR: 1.69, 95% CI: 1.05–2.72). This implies that an ARI occurrence is 69.2% more likely when compared to the effect of clean fuel. This study found a statistically significant association between solid fuel consumption and the occurrence of ARI in children in households. The correlation between indoor air pollution and clinical parameters of ARI requires further investigation. Our findings will also help other researchers and policymakers to take comprehensive actions by considering fuel type as a risk factor as well as taking proper steps to solve this issue.</p