Man-made ponds may be responsible for widespread arsenic contamination of ground water affecting millions of people in Bangladesh, a new study says writes BBC online Saturday.
According to the journal “Nature Geoscience”, the ponds have become a dumping ground for debris which releases arsenic into ground water. Around 25 million people in the country have been exposed to arsenic through water. Experts have described the situation as the worst mass poisoning of a population in history.
Man-made ponds, often dug with the help of international aid agencies (blandt dem Danida, red.), were originally created to protect villagers from unclean water. The arsenic enters water supplies from agricultural and industrial waste or from natural deposits in the ground.
Around two million people in Bangladesh suffer from arsenic poisoning. Chronic ingestion of small doses has been linked to cancer of the bladder (blære), kidney (nyre), lung or skin, while large doses can kill immediately.
