Arsenic: A poison in natural resource

Arsenic pollution / problem has become one of the talked topics of our country at present. It has spread throughout whole Bangladesh in an epidemic form. Arsenic is a poisonous chemical element mixed with water. This poisonous element is found in ground water, such as tube-well water. In different countries, arsenic contamination in water supplies is known to have been caused by dissolving geological deposits which naturally occur from industrial discharges and from uses of pesticides. If a man drinks arsenic contaminated water, he is affected by disease and after many days the symptoms are found. The disease caused by arsenic is known as arsenicosis. Poisoning by arsenic is slow process. It damages the kidneys, the liver, the skin and even the nerves system of body. Long term poisoning might cause also death of the sufferers. Many people in our country are suffering from arsenicosis and many more are being affected everyday. For the prevention of arsenicosis, we should drink only arsenic-free water. Besides this, we have to eat a healthy and balanced diet. To ensure supply of arsenic-free water, we should sink deep tubewells. Water treatment plant should be established in the rural areas and the arsenic contaminated tubewells should be identified by red colour. We should remember that arsenic poison cannot be removed by boiling or filtering water. So, all of us should be conscious of arsenic poison and should be careful about using water. It is a hopeful matter that various agencies in the health and water sector such as NIPSOM, DPHE, BWDB and others have begun sampling well-water and looking for medical symptoms as evidence of arsenic contamination and its affected area and they are trying to solve the problem.