Subject: News: Arsenic pollution kills 13 Bangladeshis and thousands already exposed

From: Mahmood Hassan <[email-masked]>
Date: 6 Sep 1996 08:46:58 GMT

News: Arsenic pollution kills 13 Bangladeshis

Dhaka, Thursday - Health teams in southern Bagerhat district have sealed
many shallow wells after they tested positive for arsenic, a poisonous,
semi-metallic chemical element. They have asked local authorities to
sink deep tubewells on an emergency basis. 

"Thousands of people are exposed to grave threats because of pollution
or poisoning by high contents of arsenic in sub-soil water,'' one doctor
with the Public Health Department said. 

Doctors said they had detected "definite cases of arsenic poisoning''
during a survey on Tuesday at some villages in Ishwardi sub-division in
Pabna district, also in the north. 

Dr. Fazlul Huq, civil surgeon in Pabna, said he had found around 100
"definite'' cases of arsenic poisoning, with patients suffering from
chronic skin rashes and deteriorating health. 

"We visited at least 50 households in some five villages and each family
has one or two members with positive symptoms,'' he told Reuters on
Thursday. 

Dr. Mohammad Shah Newaj, a skin specialist at the Pabna Hospital, also
confirmed several deaths and illnesses caused by arsenic. 

Health officials in Dhaka said they would soon send a high-level expert
team to Bagerhat, Ishwardi and neighbouring areas to investigate arsenic
pollution. 

The government may also seek help from international agencies to
determine the causes of the pollution and ways to overcome it, one
official said. 

REUTER 

Comment:
Arsenic as a pollutant and this time drinking water!
It needs international cooperation to detect the source of the contamination of 
sub-soil water, generally accepted as safe.
Transmit the news world wide for necessary precaution.
Regards.

M.H.