title: Arsenic groundwater contamination and its health effects in Patna district (capital of Bihar) in the middle Ganga plain, India.
abstract: We investigated the extent and severity of groundwater arsenic (As) contamination in five blocks in Patna district, Bihar, India along with As in biological samples and its health effects such as dermatological, neurological and obstetric outcome in some villages. We collected 1365 hand tube-well water samples and analyzed for As by the flow injection hydride generation atomic absorption spectrometer (FI-HG-AAS). We found 61% and 44% of the tube-wells had As above 10 and 50 μg/l, respectively, with maximum concentration of 1466 μg/l. Our medical team examined 712 villagers and registered 69 (9.7%) with arsenical skin lesions. Arsenical skin lesions were also observed in 9 children of 312 screened. We analyzed 176 biological samples (hair, nail and urine). Out of these, 69 people had arsenical skin lesions and rest without skin lesions. We found 100% of the biological samples had As above the normal levels (concentrations of As in hair, nail and urine of unexposed individuals usually ranges from 20 to 200 μg/kg, 20-500 μg/kg and <100 μg/l, respectively), indicating many people are sub-clinically affected. Arsenical neuropathy was observed in 40.5% of 37 arsenicosis patients with 73.3% prevalence for predominant sensory neuropathy and 26.7% for sensor-motor. Among patients, different clinical and electrophysiological neurological features and abnormal quantitative sensory perception thresholds were also noted. The study also found that As exposed women with severe skin lesions had adversely affected their pregnancies. People including children in the affected areas are in danger. To combat As situation in affected areas, villagers urgently need (a) provision of As-safe water for drinking and cooking, (b) awareness about the danger of As toxicity, and (c) nutritious food.
authors.affiliation: School of Environmental Studies (SOES), Jadavpur University, Kolkata 700 032, India. Electronic address: dcsoesju@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Dipankar
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Chakraborti
authors.affiliation: Global Centre for Environmental Remediation (GCER), University of Newcastle, Faculty of Science and Information Technology, Callaghan Campus, Callaghan, New South Wales, NSW 2308, Australia.
authors.forename: Mohammad Mahmudur
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Rahman
authors.affiliation: School of Environmental Studies (SOES), Jadavpur University, Kolkata 700 032, India.
authors.forename: Sad
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ahamed
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education and Research, SSKM Hospital, Kolkata, India.
authors.forename: Rathindra Nath
authors.initials: RN
authors.lastname: Dutta
authors.affiliation: Kolkata National Medical College and Hospital, Kolkata, India.
authors.forename: Shyamapada
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pati
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Medical College, Kolkata, India.
authors.forename: Subhash Chandra
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Mukherjee
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001151:Arsenic / Q000032:analysis / Q000633:toxicity* / Q000652:urine; D020261:Arsenic Poisoning / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000652:urine; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D060587:Groundwater / Q000032:analysis*; D006197:Hair / Q000737:chemistry; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009262:Nails / Q000737:chemistry; D020258:Neurotoxicity Syndromes / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000652:urine; D011247:Pregnancy; D012871:Skin Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000652:urine; D013054:Spectrophotometry, Atomic; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis / Q000633:toxicity* / Q000652:urine; D060986:Water Wells; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D001151:Arsenic
keywords: Arsenic; Arsenical neuropathy; Arsenical skin lesions; Biological samples; Groundwater; Pregnancy outcome