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The arsenic poisoning in Bangladesh mentioned in the piece is a real and serious problem, but it's also the side effect of meaningful progress. Some, but not a
by DoreenMichele 5y ago
The arsenic poisoning in Bangladesh mentioned in the piece is a real and serious problem, but it's also the side effect of meaningful progress. Some, but not all, of the wells built to stop a quarter of a million annual deaths from disease caused by collecting surface waters is the source of the arsenic poisoning.
- Gibbon1 5y agoWhat I understand the screw up there was not testing each well before putting it into potable water service. It's not a new thing. My grandfather had a gig during the 1930's testing wells and springs for the USDA. My grandmother said a lot of wells and springs people were drinking from were contaminated with heavy metals and bacteria.
- DoreenMichele 5y agoYears ago, I did a college paper on the Bangladesh arsenic poisoning. Short wells and deep wells are fine. It's medium depth wells that are the problem because they are all drawing water from a particular rock formation that contains arsenic. No one knew that beforehand. Relief organizations went in to put a stop to a serious crisis. They succeeded. Then reports of arsenic poisoning began emerging.