We evaluated whether provision and promotion of improved sanitation hardware (toilets and child feces management tools) reduced rotavirus and human fecal contamination of drinking water, child hands, and soil among rural Bangladeshi compounds enrolled in a cluster-randomized trial. We also measured host-associated genetic markers of ruminant and avian feces. We found evidence of widespread ruminant and avian fecal contamination in the compound environment; non-human fecal marker occurrence scaled with animal ownership. Strategies for controlling non-human fecal waste should be considered when designing interventions to reduce exposure to fecal contamination in low-income settings. Detection of a human-associated fecal marker and rotavirus was rare and unchanged by provision and promotion of improved sanitation to intervention compounds. The sanitation intervention reduced ruminant fecal contamination in drinking water and general (non-host specific) fecal contamination in soil but overall had limited effects on reducing fecal contamination in the household environment.
Arsenic contamination of tubewell water is a major public-health problem in Bangladesh. In the recent years, the use of shallow and deep tubewell water for irrigation and the use of excess amount of cheap fertilizers and pesticides containing cadmium pose a serious threat of contamination of arsenic and cadmium in food. In an exploratory study, arsenic and cadmium were measured in foods from Matlab, a rural area in Bangladesh, that is extensively affected by arsenic and the economy is agriculture-based. Raw and cooked food samples were collected from village homes (households, n=13) and analyzed to quantify concentrations of arsenic and cadmium using atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Washing rice with water before cooking reduced the concentration of arsenic in raw rice by 13-15%. Rice, when cooked with excess water discarded, showed a significant decrease in arsenic concentration compared to that cooked without discarding the water (p<0.001). In contrast, concentration of cadmium did not decrease in cooked rice after discarding water. Cooked rice with discarded water had significantly lower concentration of arsenic compared to raw rice (p=0.002). Raw rice had higher concentration of arsenic compared to raw vegetables (p<0.001); however, no such difference was found for cadmium. Compared to raw vegetables (e.g. arum), concentration of arsenic increased significantly (p=0.024) when cooked with arsenic-contaminated water. Thus, the practice of discarding excess water while cooking rice reduces the concentration of arsenic but not of cadmium in cooked rice. However, water generally not discarded when cooking vegetables to avoid loss of micronutrients consequently retains arsenic. The results suggest that arsenic and cadmium have entered the food-chain of Bangladesh, and the cooking practices influence the concentration of arsenic but not of cadmium in cooked food.
BackgroundSafe water is essential for life but unsafe for human consumption if it is contaminated with pathogenic microorganisms. An acceptable quality of water supply (adequate, safe and accessible) must be ensured to all human beings for a healthy life.MethodsWe collected and analyzed a total of 12,650 drinking water samples, for the presence of Escherichia coli and faecal coliforms, from a large habitation of the displaced Rohingya population comprising of about 1.16 million people living within 4 km2.ResultsWe found that 28% (n = 893) water samples derived from tubewells were contaminated with faecal coliforms and 10.5% (n = 333) were contaminated with E. coli; also, 73.96% (n = 4644) samples from stored household sources (at point of use—POU) were found contaminated with faecal coliforms while 34.7% (n = 2179) were contaminated with E. coli. It was observed that a higher percentage of POU samples fall in the highest risk category than that of their corresponding sources.ConclusionsFrom our findings, it appears that secondary contamination could be a function of very high population density and could possibly occur during collection, transportation, and storage of water due to lack of knowledge of personal and domestic hygiene. Hence, awareness campaign is necessary, and the contaminated sources should be replaced. Further, the POU water should be treated by a suitable method.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.