The crucial global issue of arsenic contamination in the ground water reserves alone has been stated to be “one of the worst environmental disasters in the history of mankind”. It is resulting in fatal health impacts through direct consumption of contaminated water, or through contaminated food chain, or both. An increasing number of persons in the affected areas are suffering from melanosis, leuco-melanosis, keratosis, hyperkeratosis, dorsum, oedema, gangrene and skin cancer. Melanosis (93.5%) and keratosis (68.3%) are the most common presentations among the affected people. Patients of Leucomelanosis (39.1%) and hyper-keratosis (37.6%) have been found in many cases. Few cases of skin cancer (0.8%) have also been identified among the patients seriously affected by arsenic poisoning. The occurrence of arsenic diseases depends on the ingestion of arsenic compounds and their excretion from the body. It has been reported that 40% to 60% arsenic can be retained by the human body. It indicates that the level of hazards will be higher with the greater consumption of arsenic contaminated water.
Arsenic mitigation is a complex task given the heterogeneity of the occurrence of arseniferrous aquifers, their geochemistry, social and economic scales of the affected population, and responses of the different stakeholders. A suitable arsenic mitigation strategy will have to take into account the social and economic status of the concerned area, utilize local resources and build sustainability to the project through adoption of green technology, all these being underlined by community acceptance and mobilization. Such an approach can act as a catalyst of bringing about a change in the community’s outlook and development
Hemostasis Physiology and Clinical correlations by Dr Faiza.pdf
Arsenic Contamination in Groundwater
1. Arsenic Contamination in Ground Water
Dr.Ashok Ghosh
Professor -in-Charge
Dept. of Environment and Water Management
A. N. College, Patna
Arsenic Poisoning in Bihar – Problem and Mitigation
2. www.ancollege.org
Arsenic Poisoning - Did Arsenic Kill
Napoleon?
• Officially, Napoleon Bonaparte
died of stomach cancer at the
age of 51
• But two French scientists say
they have new evidence that the
French emperor died of arsenic
poisoning while in exile on the
island of St. Helena
• The scientists said strands of hair
showed levels of arsenic about
35 times higher than normal
3. www.ancollege.org
Origin of arsenic crisis in Indian subcontinent
[switching from surface water to underground water]
People used surface
water until 1970s
Poor quality
due to pollution
High prevalence of
water-borne diseases
Millions
of tubewells
installed
Underground
water became
widely popular
Reduction of infant
and child mortality
Best option:
underground
water
High infant and
child mortality
Demand for
pathogen free safe
drinking water
Poses severe
health problems
Affects almost
whole country
Problems arose
due to arsenic
contamination
4. 4
High arsenic release by
MiningActivity -Anthropogenic
High arsenic concentration
in groundwater - Geogenic
Arsenic – A Natural Element
Global Distribution
15. www.ancollege.org
The Hottest Arsenic Hand Pump of Bihar
1860 ppb - Panday Tola,Bhojpur
Arsenic Concentration of 1861 ppb
Panday Tola – 100 % hand
pumps with arsenic> 50 ppb
Krishna Kumar Panday
17. www.ancollege.org
BIHAR FINDINGS (Ghosh et.al.-2008)
• 7,218 of 27,061 hand pumps tested
had arsenic contaminated water of>10
ppb.[26.67%]
• Highest As. Value Recorded – 1861 ppb
• A total of 16 Bihar districts ( 57 blocks)
are affected by high level of arsenic in
the groundwater
• Trivalent arsenic 87 % in ground water
of Bihar
• Worst-affected districts are Bhojpur,
Buxar, Vaishali, Bhagalpur,
Samastipur, Khagaria, Katihar, Chapra,
Munger and Darbhanga.
23. www.ancollege.org
Ram Ashan Panday – Ex Army Man – Developed Symptoms after his
Return to native village - Panday Tola,Bhojpur
Gift of home coming………Keratosis
Keratosis
25. www.ancollege.org
Gift of home coming……
Kisan Panday
Ex army man
developed
symptoms after his
return to native
village,PandayTola,
Bhojpur six years
ago.
Keratosis
26. www.ancollege.org
Wife of Munna Panday
[25 years old
with 4 children] –
Arsenicosis with low
Blood Pressure – Panday Tola,
Bhojpur,Bihar
Low Blood Pressure and Anemic
27. www.ancollege.org
Aunty of Munna Panday [45 years] – Panday
Tola,Bhojpur,Bihar
And Anaemia – Panday Tola ,Bihar
Arsenicosis with Low BP
28. www.ancollege.org
Anuj Panday of
Panday Tola with
early symptom of
arsenicosis has
very high BP and
depression - due
to uncertain future??
Hypertension – Depression
34. www.ancollege.org
Some additional findings
• Consistent dose-response relationships were found
between As. exposure and risk of skin lesions.
• Thinner/weaker persons are more likely to be
affected by As exposure.
• Use of fertilizer and excessive sun exposure increase
the susceptibility to risk of skin lesions due to Arsenic
exposure.
• Tobacco smoking and high level of Arsenic exposure
synergistically increase the risk of skin lesions and
cancer.
35. www.ancollege.org
Other emerging health problems identified
by our research group
•Adverse relationship between
arsenic level and intelligence in
young children?
•Adverse affect on foetus
• Low birth weight
• Obstructive airway diseases in
young adult and children
36. www.ancollege.org
Factors which may aggravate Arsenicosis
• Type of arsenic and level of exposure
• Body immunity and genetic
configuration plays significant role
• Nutritional status and food habit
• Low haemoglobin level may enhance ill
effects of arsenic
38. www.ancollege.org
Management of arsenicosis
•Arsenic free safe water
•Dietary Supplement and anti-oxidant
fruits/vegetables/protein is important along with
application of ointment (5 – 20% Urea and salicylic)
• Complicated cases like skin cancer, ulcer, gangrene needs
specialized medical and surgical management
• Social, economic and physical rehabilitation.
•Mass community awareness and support to develop
community based rehabilitation system.
40. www.ancollege.org
MAJOR PROBLEMS OF “ARSENICOSIS”
MANAGEMENT
•Lack of knowledge information and training for case
detection and management by field workers
•Poor community motivation for safe water use
complicated by physical nature of arsenic in water
(tasteless, colorless and odorless)
•Socio-economic hazards due to ill-conceived idea about
“Arsenicosis”
•Poor Resource allocation for rehabilitation and treatment
•Indiscriminate installation of Tube-well both private and
public sector
41. www.ancollege.org
Lack of Awareness
•The unsafe sources (PAINTED
RED) are still being used by
villagers due to lack of awareness.
•Intensive awareness campaign is
required in affected villages.
44. www.ancollege.org
Arsenic mitigation strategies and ……………
Deep well
Deep aquifers
•Uncertain
•Expensive
Better but…….
Piped water
Deep aquifers/treated
Surface water
•Expensive
•No infrastructure
Low
Arsenic removal filters
Arsenic contaminated
water
•Effectiveness?
•Expensive
•Environmentally
problematic
Better
Options
Water source
Problems
Feasibility
46. www.ancollege.org
All of afore-mentioned schemes,
though well-conceived, could not be
sustained
• The required structures for these mitigation schemes are being
constructed randomly, and are insufficient for the dense
population.
• Water quality monitoring units exist at Panchayat level, but
there is a lack of follow-up action and lack of communication
between the Panchayats. Hence the concept of a
decentralised, demand driven water quality initiatives is being
compromised.
• Failure of the authorities to undertake monitoring and
maintenance work in the post-construction phase has rendered
the projects defunct.
• District-level water quality monitoring laboratories are not well
equipped.
47. www.ancollege.org
All of afore-mentioned schemes………
• There is a lack of awareness and sensitization to arsenic
contamination, and lack of ownership among the largely
illiterate population.
• These factors have been the biggest contributory factors
towards the absence of public participation in these
government schemes.
• Community mobilisation is the sole answer to proper
implementation of these schemes, in which private
ownership is to be promoted.
48. www.ancollege.org
Results of Arsenic Mitigation Strategies
REDUNDENT RAINWATER
HARVESTING UNIT
REDUNDENT RESTORED
OPEN WELL
DEFUNCT OVERHEAD TANK TO TAP
SAFE AQUIFER
49. www.ancollege.org
Ganga River Piped Water Scheme launched by GoB at Bhojpur
Rs.53 Crore GoB initiative in Bhojpur
• Ganga Water supply
after treatment
• Dependent on electric power ,
a scarce commodity in Bihar
• Ganga is shifting from its
current location as per our
studies
51. www.ancollege.org
Possible alternative I: Gravity driven filter
Developed and Tested byAquapal,Sweden &
A N College,Patna
•Gravity Driven Filter not
dependent on electricity
•Adsorbent based filter
developed by Aquapal,Sweden
•Easy to maintain
•Easy to operate
•Low cost
•Household level water supply
53. www.ancollege.org
Developed and Tested by Lehigh
University, USA & A.N. College, Patna
• Lehigh University in Bethlehem, USA and A. N. College,
Patna have responded to address these constraints by
installing the first community-based wellhead arsenic
removal unit in a remote village – Ramnagar, Maner
• The unit is based on adsorption technology developed by
Lehigh University, USA. The project has been funded by
Tagore-SenGupta Foundation.
• This unit will serve about 200 households of this village with
approximately 7,000 liters of treated water produced per
day, supplying nearly 1,000 villagers with arsenic-safe water.
• This unit can provide water without requiring electricity or
external addition of chemicals.
63. ThisresearchprojecthasbeensupportedbyanErasmusMundusgrantwithintheECprogramEURINDIA
INTRODUCTION
Study objectives:
a) Technology study on reverse osmosis as means of arsenic
mitigation technology for groundwater treatment
b) Case study to assess socioeconomic and health implications
from consumption of arsenic loaded water and to identify
capacities to cope with issue
Motivation:
Contribute to advancement of arsenic mitigation strategies
applying a holistic approach
Study period:
5 months from April to August 2010
Collaborators:
A.N. College of Magadh University Bodh Gaya in Patna, India
Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences in Karlsruhe, Germany
Resources:
Funding by European Commissions EURINDIA program
as well as own contributions from collaborators
Water chemistry lab of A.N. College for water analytics
machine installed in village
equipment to be shipped
water analytics @ A.N. college lab
69. www.ancollege.org
Possible alternative V: In Situ Arsenic Treatment
[TiPOT technology of Queen's University Belfast, UK]
Rangapur, Nilgunj ( WB) Plant
Supported by World Bank
Shower Head
Courtesy - Dr.Bhaskar Sengupta
Univ. of Belfast, UK
70. www.ancollege.org
In Situ Arsenic Treatment………..
•In the in-situ treatment method, the aerated tube well
water is stored in feed water tanks and released back
into the aquifers.
•The dissolved oxygen in aerated water oxidizes arsenite
to less-mobile arsenate, the ferrous iron to ferric iron
and Manganese(II) to Manganese(III), followed by
adsorption of arsenate on Fe(III) and manganese(III) and
subsequent precipitation resulting in a reduction of the
arsenic content in tube well water.
• Oxidation is further enhanced biologically by bacteria
living in the subsurface - bioremediation
74. www.ancollege.org
ECAR……
• A technology best used at a small community scale.
• In ECAR, a small amount of electricity is used to
quickly dissolve iron (contained in ordinary steel
sheets) in water.
• The iron forms a type of rust that readily binds to arsenic in
the water. As III is rapidly oxidized to As V during the
chemical process of rust formation (specifically, as Fe II
oxidizes to Fe III, oxidants are created that readily oxidize
As III).
• The arsenic Laden rust aggregates, forming larger particles
that can be removed from the water through filtration or
settling.
75. www.ancollege.org
ECAR……
• A small amount of alum (aluminum sulfate) can be
added to accelerate the separation stage at low cost.
The water is left iron- and arsenic-free (final arsenic
< 10 ppb, or 2 ppb with additional cost).
• The efficiency gains from the small particle size of
the rust (resulting in a large surface area) make the
technology very low cost and capable of operating
with very little waste sludge produced.
• There is no need for media regeneration,
• and the adsorbent is generated onsite from the steel
plates (inputs include steel plates, electricity, and
alum)
76. www.ancollege.org
UNRESOLVED ISSUES RELATING TO ARSENIC
CONTAMINATED DRINKING WATER SOURCES
• Research into Arsenic speciation, mobilization largely
fragmented and repetitive
• Almost entire investigation into the hydro-geological
aspects of arsenic contaminated aquifers have been
confined to Bengal basin, the geological variations along
the entire river basins warranting immediate attention.
• Lack of knowledge and medical infrastructure relating to
diagnosis and treatment of arsenicosis.
• Lack of comprehensive database on arsenic contaminated
aquifers and its implications
• Lack of maintenance and monitoring of mitigation
structures
• Lack of Community Participation
77. Path Forward
Development and
application of
more sustainable
technologies
Today
1980 2000 20201970 1990 2010 2030
NumberofEarths
0.2
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0.8
1.0
1.2
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1.6
Number of Earths Used by Humanity
Number of Earths Available
Target
pathway
Projections
Opportunities for
innovation