Arsenic, microbes and contaminated aquifers.
The health of tens of millions of people world-wide is at risk from drinking arsenic-contaminated well water. In most cases this arsenic occurs naturally within the sub-surface aquifers, rather than being derived from identifiable point sources of pollution. The mobilization of arsenic into the aqueous phase is the first crucial step in a process that eventually leads to human arsenicosis. Increasing evidence suggests that this is a microbiological phenomenon.
Oremland
Ronald S
RS
U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA. roremlan@usgs.giv
Stolz
John F
JF
D001105:Archaea / Q000378:metabolism; D001151:Arsenic / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D001419:Bacteria / Q000378:metabolism*; D001459:Bangladesh; D006801:Humans; D014872:Water Movements; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000378:metabolism*; D014881:Water Supply
D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D001151:Arsenic