EFFECTS OF OVER EXPOSED ARSENIC IN WATER

 

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It is a chronic illness resulting from drinking water, by the people who consumed contaminated drinking water with more arsenic content over a long period of time. The name of this diseases is Arsenicosis.

A study shows that high arsenic contamination of groundwater in Bihar is linked with increase in cancer cases. Districts located near the Himalayan river basins have more people with cancer.

 While groundwater is an important source of drinking water worldwide, contamination of groundwater sources is on the rise. Arsenic contamination of groundwater has been found to affect as high as 300 million people worldwide exposing them to a number of health risks. 

ARSENIC CONTAMINATION IN GROUND WATER

Groundwater is the main source of drinking water and caters to more than 80 per cent of drinking source in rural Bihar, thus increasing the risk of population exposed to the risks due to arsenic.

The state of Bihar, in eastern India, is one of the country's most impoverished states. More than 10 million people in the state are estimated to be threatened with arsenic poisoning or arsenicosis from contaminated groundwater.

Millions of people in Bihar, India, are showing symptoms of arsenic poisoning, which can be linked to cancer, due to consumption of contaminated drinking water.

The symptoms arise after many years of exposure, say experts.

Eighteen out of 38 districts in the state of Bihar have high arsenic contamination of groundwater. According to the Ministry of Water Resources, Government of India, 1600 habitations from 67 blocks of 18 districts of the states are severely affected with arsenic poisoning. This has caused threat to an estimated 50 million population of the state out of which 13.85 million people are drinking arsenic contaminated water above the WHO/BIS permissible limit of 10 μg/L.

Arsenic is an element that occurs in organic and inorganic compounds. According to the International Agency for Research on Cancer, its presence in inorganic compounds is highly toxic and carcinogenic. "It is a slow poison. Symptoms appear after continuous ingestion over five to 12 years" expert says.

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HOW CONTAMINANTS GET INTO DRINKING WATER

Generally, contaminants pollute your drinking water through three main methods: natural sources of contamination, artificial/man-made sources of contamination, and contamination as a byproduct of other processes.

Natural sources of contamination include chemicals, minerals, or other substances that can be found in nature. This can range from relatively harmless dirt or plant matter, to biohazards such as animal waste, to toxic and carcinogenic substances such as arsenic, lead, radon, or even uranium.

Rivers, lakes, and other surface-level freshwater sources can be easily contaminated by dirt or plants in or near the water simply due to their presence. Animals that defecate in or near the water can contaminate the water with bacteria, viruses, or other potential harmful microbial organisms in the waste matter. Groundwater such as underground aquifers, rivers, or wells can be contaminated by minerals and elements in the earth. While some substances in the earth that can enter groundwater, like calcium and magnesium, are generally beneficial in drinking water and tend to improve the taste of the water, other substances – like the aforementioned arsenic, lead, radon, or uranium – pose a great threat to human health

• Consumption of arsenic contaminated groundwater and food led to major health issues in the population and long duration exposure led to cancer.
• The most common cancers found were skin cancer, skin melanoma, lung cancer, bladder cancer, hepatobiliary cancer, renal cell carcinoma, breast cancer, ovarian cancer, endometrium cancer. These were found with other typical symptoms of arsenicosis indicating that there was a significant correlation with the arsenic.
• Cancer types like carcinomas were found to be more aggressive than the other types like leukemias, lymphomas and sarcomas. 

ARSENIC  REMOVAL TECHNOLOGIES IN WATER TREATMENT.

In areas where the drinking water contains unsafe levels of arsenic, the immediate concern is finding a safe source of drinking water. There are two main options: Finding a new safe source or removing arsenic from the contaminated source. If an arsenic safe water source cannot be established, the short-term goal is to reduce arsenic levels.There are several methods available for removal of arsenic from water. The following important methods are discussed below:

• Oxidation
• Cogulation, Percipitation and Filteration
• Adsorption (sorptive filteration)
• Ion Exchange
• Membrane Techniques

Click to view : Top 7 water treatment methods

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