Effect of Arsenic Mitigation Interventions on Disease Burden in Bangladesh

Lokuge, Kamalini; Smith, Wayne; Caldwell, Bruce; Milton, Abdul Hasnat; Dear, Keith

doi:10.1097/00001648-200309001-00097

Cited by 5 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 13 publications

(20 reference statements)

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“…For internal cancers, the calculated annual Asattributable deaths and DALYs reported per 100,000 population here are broadly comparable with those published recently for Bangladesh by Yu et al (2003) and Lokuge et al (2004). Differences in rates reflect, in part, differences in the choice of dose-response models and the rendering of the risk assessment models, but also, in part, differences in exposure, background rates and susceptibilities between the two populations.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

“…The skin cancer deaths were calculated from their prevalence data assuming exposure for 20 y and case fatality rates of 14.3%(Lokuge et al, 2004) 2 DALY is estimated only as product of total mortality and YLL (years of life lost) and no YLD (years of life lost due to disability is considered) 3 Hyperpigmentation and keratosis, DALY estimate based on YLD (years of life lost due to disability) only with prevalence multiplied by severity weighting fromFewtrell et al (2005) …”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Multiple regression analysis of As ground-water hazard and assessment of As-attributable human health risks in Chakdha Block,West Bengal

Mondal¹,

Hegan²,

Rodríguez‐Lado³

et al. 2008

Mineral. mag.

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Soluble inorganic As is toxic with both cancer and non-cancer endpoints. Of the 80 million people in West Bengal, 50 million are living in the nine As-affected districts with millions at risk from using water for drinking, cooking or irrigation (Chakrabortiet al., 2004). An environmental tragedy is developing in West Bengal with an alarming number of cases of skin lesions (Guha Mazumderet al., 1998; Mukherjeeet al., 2005), respiratory symptoms (von Ehrensteinet al., 2005), adverse pregnancy outcomes and infant mortality (von Ehrensteinet al., 2006) and neurological complications (Mukherjeeet al., 2005) associated with ingestion of As-contaminated water.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Multiple regression analysis of As ground-water hazard and assessment of As-attributable human health risks in Chakdha Block,West Bengal

Mondal¹,

Hegan²,

Rodríguez‐Lado³

et al. 2008

Mineral. mag.

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“…55,440 Each of these methods may have utility in a given context; however, none is universally available or effective at providing safe water, and risks inherent with the alternative methods must be compared against potential benefits. 441 Even where applicable, water from alternative sources must still be tested to ensure that levels of biological pathogens, 440 multiple metal contaminants, 442 and carcinogenic by-products from treatment 443 meet established drinking water guidelines. It should be noted that surface water may be additionally contaminated by arsenic-containing irrigation run-off, 21a,442b,444 and while deeper wells in Bangladesh and Vietnam may have less arsenic, 21a,444,445 deeper wells in China may have more arsenic.…”

Section: Mitigation Of Contaminated Groundwater Alternative Sources O...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Home treatment systems must also be regularly monitored for bacteriological contamination, particularly in the developing world where chances of such contamination are high. 441 An additional concern with home-scale systems is the problem of toxic sludge disposal once the adsorbents have exceeded their utility; it is essential that proper disposal solutions be made, developed and put in place before home-scale treatment systems are adopted for widespread use.…”

Section: Drinking Water Treatmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exposure to multiple metals from groundwater—a global crisis: Geology, climate change, health effects, testing, and mitigation

Mitchell¹,

Frisbie

Sarkar

2011

Metallomics

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This paper presents an overview of the global extent of naturally occurring toxic metals in groundwater. Adverse health effects attributed to the toxic metals most commonly found in groundwater are reviewed, as well as chemical, biochemical, and physiological interactions between these metals. Synergistic and antagonistic effects that have been reported between the toxic metals found in groundwater and the dietary trace elements are highlighted, and common behavioural, cultural, and dietary practices that are likely to significantly modify health risks due to use of metal-contaminated groundwater are reviewed. Methods for analytical testing of samples containing multiple metals are discussed, with special attention to analytical interferences between metals and reagents. An overview is presented of approaches to providing safe water when groundwater contains multiple metallic toxins.

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“…likelihood of 2 million cases of arsenicosis, including 125 000 cancers, and there are already 9000 arsenic-related deaths a year (Lokuge et al, 2004). Ahsan (2000) estimates a probable 3 million cases of arsenicosis over a thirty year period.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental Irony: Summoning Death in Bangladesh

2007

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The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-pro t purposes provided that:• a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in DRO • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders.Please consult the full DRO policy for further details. In the 1980s symptoms of what seemed at first to be a strange skin disease began to appear in the rural areas of Bangladesh and West Bengal (India). The numbers were small but by the 1990s there was a flood of cases of hyperpigmentation (dark spots), and also small hardened lumps (keratoses) on hands and feet, which were often disabling, as a result of proneness to fungal infections, and occasionally they became malignant. An epidemiological link was eventually made to water consumption because these symptoms were similar to those of arsenic poisoning in Taiwan, with its associated 'blackfoot disease'. The laboratory testing of Bengali patients' hair confirmed the diagnosis of arsenicosis and there is no longer any doubt that a major problem exists. By analogy with Taiwan, consumption of arseniccontaminated water in Bangladesh over periods of 5-20 years will lead to cancers of the lung, bladder and kidney; hypertension; cardiovascular disease; and peripheral vascular disease, which is characterised by black skin discolouration, ulceration and possibly dry gangrene (WHO, 2001; IPCS, 2001; Chen and Ahsan, 2004).Gradually, very gradually in the 1990s, it dawned on the Bangladeshi authorities that they had discovered perhaps 'the largest mass poisoning of a population in history' ( The present paper contemplates the meanings of irony in an environmental context, concentrating on one, that of indeterminacy. This is used to show that there is very little by way of a stable understanding of the 'crisis' that has been identified so confidently in the media. First, we show that spatial and depth variabilities in arsenic content are extraordinary at the local scale, making analysis, interpolation and prediction highly problematic. Then we revisit the vexed issue of safety standards. The threshold of the level of arsenic that is safe to consume is by no means straightforward and shifting from the Bangladesh standard to that of the World Health Organization (WHO) nearly doubles the population estimated to be 'at risk'. Third, we turn to the issue of measurement and find that the field testing kits (FTKs), at least in the way they are used, do not provide a sufficiently accurate and reliable foundation for the dataset upon which much of the debate about arsenic in Bangladesh is based. This undermines the scientific credibility of some of the remedial measures taken so far in the field. Next the paper investigates the nature of lay and expert knowledges of arsenic. These are in a nascent state, with...

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Effect of Arsenic Mitigation Interventions on Disease Burden in Bangladesh

Cited by 5 publications

References 13 publications

Multiple regression analysis of As ground-water hazard and assessment of As-attributable human health risks in Chakdha Block,West Bengal

Multiple regression analysis of As ground-water hazard and assessment of As-attributable human health risks in Chakdha Block,West Bengal

Exposure to multiple metals from groundwater—a global crisis: Geology, climate change, health effects, testing, and mitigation

Environmental Irony: Summoning Death in Bangladesh

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