Arsenic In Drinking Water ... Well Water Sources
In essence we are talking not of poisoning by a large dose of arsenic in drinking water as favoured in detective novels of the Agatha Christie type we are discussing long term bodily accumulation by drinking water containing arsenic in small proportions ... these build up over a long period of time.
Arsenic in drinking water ... long term exposure
Long-term exposure to arsenic via drinking-water causes cancer of the skin, lungs, urinary bladder, and kidney. Other skin changes take place such as pigmentation changes and thickening (hyperkeratosis).
Normally arsenic is not absorbed through the skin so washing water or washing skin in water contraining arsenic is not considered a problem.
Bangladesh is a country where large numbers of people are expected to die (200,000+ based upon WHO statistics) from arsenic in drinking water. The arsenic creating this problem comes from water that runs over rocks containing higher than average proportions of arsenic. This in turn contaminates the drinking water.
Well water used a lot in countries like Bangladesh are one of the reason for this high incidence. Well water filters are not really an option here
The World Health Organization reports ...
The technology for arsenic removal for piped drinking water supply is moderately costly and requires technical expertise. It is inapplicable in some urban areas of developing countries and in most rural areas world-wide. New types of drinking water treatment technologies, including co-precipitation, ion exchange and activated alumina filtration are being field-tested. Water Well Filters ... Note there are no proven technologies for the removal of arsenic at water collection points such as wells, hand-pumps and springs. Simple technologies for household removal of arsenic from drinking water are few and have to be adapted to, and proven sustainable in each different setting. Some studies have reported preliminary successes in using packets of chemicals for household drinking water treatment. Some mixtures combine arsenic removal with disinfection. One example, developed by the WHO/PAHO Pan American Center of Sanitary Engineering and Environmental Sciences in Lima, Peru (CEPIS), has proven successful in Latin America. Arsenic in Drinking Water. Well Water Filters Not Option