Arsenic Contamination in Hizla, Bangladesh: Sources, Effects and Remedies

Various natural (high arsenic bearing strata and pyrite oxidation) and anthropogenic (agricultural, coal mining, metal smelting, and refining industry) sources are involved in arsenic pollution of water. Water, soil, and biological samples (vegetables, fish, and meat) were collected from potentially arsenic affected area Hizla, Bangladesh and analyzed to find the source of arsenic contamination. All analyses excluding water were carried out by X-Ray Fluorescence method. Total arsenic determination of groundwater was conducted by field kit and cross-checked by Total Reflection X-Ray Fluorescence method. About 80% of shallow tubewell (10-30 m) water was contaminated (71 out of 89 samples), but none of the 35 deep tubewell (more than 200 m) water samples. Hair samples from patients, who have been drinking arsenic tainted water for several years and have been suffering with preliminary skin lesions, showed significant results (5.5 to 11.1 mg kg). Reasonable concentrations have not yet been investigated in biological and soil samples, as a source of arsenic pollution in Hizla. Arsenic in groundwater was found to be increased proportionally with iron but decreased inversely with the well depth. Analysis of borehole soil samples in different depths from arsenic contaminated area, initially confirmed by As test kit, will certainly identify the source of arsenic contamination in the study area.