Khitish Chandra Saha

Arsenic poisoning in the Ganges delta.

We have been studying the contamination of groundwater by arsenic and the attend-ant human suffering in West Bengal, India, for a decade, and in Bangladesh for the past four years. From our analysis of thousands of samples of water and sediment, we have been able to test the course of events proposed by Nickson et al. to account for the poisoning of Bangladesh groundwater. We disagree with Nickson et al.s claim that arsenic concentrations in shallow (oxic) wells are mostly below 50 μg per litre. In our samples from Bangladesh (n=9,465), 59% of the 7,800 samples taken at known depth and containing arsenic at over arsenic 50 μg per litre were collected from depths of less than 30 m, and 67% of the 167 samples with arsenic concentrations above 1,000 μg per litre were collected from wells between 11 and 15.8 m deep.

Arsenic Toxicity from Homeopathic Treatment

Abstract Homeopathic medicine is commonly believed to be relatively harmless. However, treatment with improperly used homeopathic preparations may be dangerous. Case Reports. Case 1 presented with melanosis and keratosis following short‐term use of Arsenic Bromide 1‐X followed by long‐term use of other arsenic‐containing homeopathic preparations. Case 2 developed melanotic arsenical skin lesions after taking Arsenicum Sulfuratum Flavum‐1‐X (Arsenic S.F. 1‐X) in an effort to treat his white skin patches. Case 3 consumed Arsenic Bromide 1‐X for 6 days in an effort to treat his diabetes and developed an acute gastrointestinal illness followed by leukopenia, thrombocytopenia, and diffuse dermal melanosis with patchy desquamation. Within ∼2 weeks, he developed a toxic polyneuropathy resulting in quadriparesis. Arsenic concentrations in all three patients were significantly elevated in integument tissue samples. In all three cases, arsenic concentrations in drinking water were normal but arsenic concentrations in samples of the homeopathic medications were elevated. Conclusion. Arsenic used therapeutically in homeopathic medicines can cause clinical toxicity if the medications are improperly used.

Groundwater Arsenic Contamination in Bengal Delta and Its Health Effects

Arsenic contamination of groundwater has been detected in more than 70 countries and has become a major public health concern worldwide (Bundschuh et al. Environ Geochem Health 32:307–315, 2010). Arsenic contamination in groundwater of Southeast Asian regions received significant interest in recent years. In this region, countries affected with As in groundwater include Bangladesh, several states of India, Nepal, Myanmar, Pakistan, Vietnam, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Cambodia, several provinces of China (Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Xinjiang, Ningxia, Jilin, Shandong, Qinghai, Sichuan, Anhui, Heilongjiang, Henan, Gansu, Jiangsu, Yunnan and Hunan) and lowlands of Sumatra in Indonesia (Rahman et al. Environ Geochem Health 31:9–21, 2009; Yu et al. Environ Health Perspect 115:636–642, 2007).