Arsenic contamination of groundwater resources threatens the health of millions of people worldwide, particularly in the densely populated river deltas of Southeast Asia. Although many arsenic-affected areas have been identified in recent years, a systematic evaluation of vulnerable areas remains to be carried out. A new study [1] presents maps pinpointing areas at risk of groundwater arsenic concentrations exceeding 10 mug l-1. The maps show that Holocene deltaic and organic-rich surface sediments are key indicators for arsenic risk areas and that the applied method of combining surface parameters is a successful approach to predict groundwater arsenic contamination.

[1] Winkel, L. et al. (2008). Predicting groundwater arsenic contamination in Southeast Asia from surface parameters. Nature Geoscience; vol. 1: p. 536-542. Published online: 11 July 2008. Full text available free of charge here.

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Source:Science Daily, 14 Jul 2008

Tags: south asia, water quality, water-related diseases