Arsenic in ground water in six districts of West Bengal, India: the biggest arsenic calamity in the world. Part 2. Arsenic concentration in drinking water, hair, nails, urine, skin-scale and liver tissue (biopsy) of the affected people

Abstract

In six districts of West Bengal arsenic has been found in ground water above the maximum permissible limit recommended by the WHO of 0.05 mg l-1. This water is used by the villagers for drinking, cooking and other household purposes. These six districts have an area of 34,000 km2 and hold a population of 30 million. Over the last five years we have surveyed only a few small areas of these six affected districts and our survey revealed that, at present, at least 800,000 people from 312 villages in 37 blocks are drinking contaminated water and more than 175,000 people are showing arsenical skin lesions that are the late stages of manifestation of arsenic toxicity. Most of the three stages of arsenic-related clinical manifestations are observed amongst the affected people. The common symptoms are conjunctivitis, melanosis, depigmentation, keratosis and hyperkeratosis; cases of gangrene and malignant neoplasms are also observed. The source of arsenic is geological. We have analysed thousands of arsenic contaminated water samples. Most of the water samples contain a mixture of arsenite and arsenate and in none of them could we detect methylarsonic or dimethylarsenic acid. We have also analysed a large number of urine, hair and nail samples, several skin-scales and some liver tissues (biopsy samples) of the people drinking the arsenic contaminated water and showing arsenical skin lesions. Flow injection hydride generation atomic absorption spectrometry (FI-HGAAS) was used for the analysis of hair, nails, urine and skin-scale after decomposition by various techniques. The liver tissues were analysed by Zeeman corrected-ETAAS using a few milligrams of the biopsy samples.

Urinary arsenic species, toenail arsenic, and arsenic intake estimates in a Michigan population with low levels of arsenic in drinking water

“…Participants were asked to clip all 10 toenails after bathing or showering, and record the date of clipping and time since their last clipping. After collection, samples were washed and digested following modified protocols (Das et al, 1995;Karagas et al, 2000). Toenails were analyzed for arsenic using ICP-MS, and toenail MDL for this set of samples was 0.043 mg/g (n ¼ 7).…”

Cytogenetic damage and genetic variants in the individuals susceptible to arsenic‐induced cancer through drinking water

“…Hair samples were taken from more or less similar region of head, close to the scalp. 39 The arsenic content of the samples was analyzed at the School of Environmental Studies, Jadavpur University, Kolkata. Both the nail and hair samples were thoroughly cleaned for removal of exogenous arsenic, following the method of Das et al 39 Before estimation, the nail and hair samples were dried in a hot oven after treating them with concentrated nitric acid.…”

“…39 The arsenic content of the samples was analyzed at the School of Environmental Studies, Jadavpur University, Kolkata. Both the nail and hair samples were thoroughly cleaned for removal of exogenous arsenic, following the method of Das et al 39 Before estimation, the nail and hair samples were dried in a hot oven after treating them with concentrated nitric acid. 39 Flow injection-hydride generationatomic absorption spectrometry (FI-HG-AAS) was used for the estimation of arsenic in the collected samples.…”

Chemical Fate of Arsenic and Other Metals in Groundwater of Bangladesh: Experimental Measurement and Chemical Equilibrium Model

“…[1][2][3][4] The source of arsenic is the special underground geochemical condition by which arsenic is mobilized as soluble species in the groundwater, primarily, mobilization by dissolution within the sediment by virtual quantitative reduction of As(V) to As(III). [5][6][7][8] Groundwater is the primary source of drinking water for millions of people in Bangladesh and neighboring India.…”