One in Five Bangladesh Deaths Linked to Arsenic in Water, Study Says

One in five deaths in Bangladesh is associated with exposure to arsenic in the drinking water, according to a new study. Between 33 million and 77 million people have been exposed to arsenic as a result of tubing wells installed in the 1970s to control water-borne diseases such as cholera and dysentery, according to the study conducted by researchers at Columbia University and the University of Chicago. After tracking more than 1,200 individuals over a decade — conducting regular interviews and taking urine samples and water tests — researchers found that about 20 percent of the nation’s 125 million people died of causes associated with exposure to water with arsenic concentrations greater than 10 micrograms per liter. Those exposed to the highest concentrations of arsenic (150 to 864 micrograms per liter) had a nearly 70 percent increase in mortality risk. While the digging of new wells was a well-intentioned project, it contaminated water supplies with arsenic, which occurs naturally in the region, said Joseph Graziano, a professor of environmental health sciences at Columbia’s Mailman School of Public Health and lead author of the study, which was published in the journal The Lancet. He said arsenic contamination can be avoided by digging deeper wells.