Bar too low for arsenic

For 30 years, the permissible amount of arsenic in drinking water in Bangladesh has been five times that of the global standard and this has been exposing people to cancer risks.

According to the World Health Organisation, the maximum permissible level of arsenic in drinking water is 0.01mg/litre. Bangladesh maintains a "standard" that is 0.05mg/litre.

Experts say Bangladeshis who rely on groundwater for drinking and cooking are being exposed to perilous amounts of arsenic.

Prof Quazi Quamruzzaman, who has been studying arsenic since 1993, said the "Bangladesh standard" should be revised and the levels set by the WHO should be followed. He said the "Bangladesh standard" is risky for humans especially since arsenic is carcinogenic.

"Our safe level of arsenic in drinking water is 0.05mg/litre of water. This is not safe. This level causes cancer in humans. Experts now say there should be no arsenic in the drinking water," he said.

"Our safe level of arsenic in drinking water is 0.05mg/litre of water. This is not safe. This level causes cancer in humans. Experts now say there should be no arsenic in the drinking water."

— Prof Quazi Quamruzzaman, who has been studying arsenic since 1993

According to a bulletin of the WHO in 2012, Bangladesh's arsenic contamination of water was the world's worst mass poisoning. At least 43,000 people die because of arsenic poisoning every year in Bangladesh, the bulletin read.

SITUATION IMPROVING

Health officials say that the arsenic situation has improved in Bangladesh as the number of tube wells that pump out water with excessive amounts of arsenic has halved over the last 20 years.

The latest study conducted by the Department of Public Health Engineering found excessive arsenic in 14 percent tube wells across the country between 2019 and 2022.

The survey was based on "Bangladesh's standards" and experts said if the study was done according to the levels set by the WHO, the results would be dreadful.

However, Bidhan Chandra Dey, project director for the survey, told The Daily Star, "The arsenic situation has improved as lots of interventions were made. The amount of arsenic in almost 80 percent of the tube wells was within the WHO standard."

He also said people were now more aware of the dangers of arsenic-contaminated water.

The survey found arsenic in all but 10 districts -- Rangamati, Bandarban, Khagrachhari, Joypurhat, Patuakhali, Barguna, Nilphamari, Bhola, Dinajpur, and Kurigram.

Chandpur, Khulna, Satkhira, Gopalganj, Noakhali, and Laxmipur were the worst affected.

Asked whether the "Bangladesh standard" should be revised, he said they were thinking about it.

Arsenic is a chemical substance that forms several poisonous compounds. It is widely distributed throughout the earth's crust and can be released into the environment and water through natural and human activities.

Chronic exposure to arsenic results in various ailments, including dermatologic signs and even skin cancer (especially in palms, soles, and abdomen), non-specific abdominal pain, and lung and bladder cancer.

In 1963, the WHO fixed the tolerable limit of arsenic in water at 0.05mg/litre. It was changed to 0.01mg/litre in 1993.

But Bangladesh stuck with the 1963 level.

Khairul Islam, regional director of WaterAid in South Asia, said arsenic is worse for the malnourished. When poor and undernourished people consume arsenic-contaminated water over a long time, they risk developing symptoms of arsenicosis, including skin cancer.

"Poor people, who work in agriculture fields as labourers, drink plenty of water and get the symptoms sooner. This is why arsenicosis is popularly known as poor people's disease… ," he said.

Khairul suggested that the government reconsider its position on arsenic standards and make it on par with that of the WHO.

According to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) and Unicef's cluster survey of 2019, at least 11.8 percent of the population -- 17.5 million -- are exposed to arsenic above Bangladesh's national standard of 0.05mg/litre.

This can damage the normal development of a child's brain and health, it said.

The Directorate General of Health Services does not have any updated information on the number of people suffering from arsenicosis in the country or the state of their treatment.

Kazi Matin Uddin Ahmed, professor at the Department of Geology at Dhaka University, said, "Overall the situation may have improved but there is still a good number of people at risk of high exposure to arsenic, which is a serious threat to public health."

Dermatologist Fakhruzzaman said they get fewer arsenicosis patients nowadays, a probable indication that the situation is improving.