Better Life Laboratories, East Calais, VT, USA.
Metallomics. 2012 Jul;4(7):653-9. doi: 10.1039/c2mt20020a. Epub 2012 Apr 11.
Around 150 million people are at risk from arsenic-contaminated groundwater in India and Bangladesh. Multiple metal analysis in Bangladesh has found other toxic elements above the World Health Organization (WHO) health-based drinking water guidelines which significantly increases the number of people at risk due to drinking groundwater. In this study, drinking water samples from the Bongaon area (North 24 Parganas district, West Bengal, India) were analyzed for multiple metal contamination in order to evaluate groundwater quality on the neighbourhood scale. Each sample was analyzed for arsenic (As), boron (B), barium (Ba), chromium (Cr), manganese (Mn), molybdenum (Mo), nickel (Ni), lead (Pb), and uranium (U). Arsenic was found above the WHO health-based drinking water guideline in 50% of these tubewells. Mn and B were found at significant concentrations in 19% and 6% of these tubewells, respectively. The maps of As, Mn, and B concentrations suggest that approximately 75% of this area has no safe tubewells. The concentrations of As, Mn, B, and many other toxic elements are independent of each other. The concentrations of Pb and U were not found above WHO health-based drinking water guidelines but they were statistically related to each other (p-value = 0.001). An analysis of selected isotopes in the Uranium, Actinium, and Thorium Radioactive Decay Series revealed the presence of thorium (Th) in 31% of these tubewells. This discovery of Th, which does not have a WHO health-based drinking water guideline, is a potential public health challenge. In sum, the widespread presence and independent distribution of other metals besides As must be taken into consideration for drinking water remediation strategies involving well switching or home-scale water treatment.
约有 1.5 亿人面临印度和孟加拉国受砷污染地下水的威胁。在孟加拉国进行的多项金属分析发现，其他有毒元素的含量超过世界卫生组织（WHO）基于健康的饮用水标准，这使得因饮用地下水而面临风险的人数显著增加。在这项研究中，分析了来自 Bongao 地区（印度西孟加拉邦北 24 帕尔干纳区）的饮用水样本，以评估该地区地下水的质量。对每个样本进行了砷（As）、硼（B）、钡（Ba）、铬（Cr）、锰（Mn）、钼（Mo）、镍（Ni）、铅（Pb）和铀（U）的多金属污染分析。在这些管井中，有 50%的管井中的砷含量超过了世界卫生组织基于健康的饮用水标准。在这些管井中，分别有 19%和 6%的管井中锰和硼的浓度较高。砷、锰和硼浓度的地图表明，该地区约有 75%的管井没有安全的饮用水。砷、锰、硼和许多其他有毒元素的浓度彼此独立。铅和铀的浓度没有超过世界卫生组织基于健康的饮用水标准，但它们在统计学上相互关联（p 值=0.001）。对铀、锕系和钍放射性衰变系列中选定同位素的分析表明，在这些管井中有 31%存在钍（Th）。虽然世界卫生组织尚未制定关于钍的饮用水标准，但发现这种元素对公共健康构成了潜在挑战。总的来说，在制定涉及水井更换或家庭规模水处理的饮用水修复策略时，必须考虑到除砷以外的其他金属的广泛存在和独立分布情况。
