Revisiting the Village Where Arsenic Contamination of Underground Water Was First Discovered in Bangladesh: Twenty-Five Years Later
A survey was conducted in an As-affected village of Bangladesh—the first discovery of As contamination in the country—to assess the current situation and how implementation activities have worked to mitigate the problem. The As testing showed that the levels were less than the Bangladesh standard (5...
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MDPI AG
2021-12-01
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| Series: | International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/1/259 |
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doaj-34a4a0b36ed34e07b16114d152f67a7e2021-01-01T00:03:55ZengMDPI AGInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health1661-78271660-46012021-12-011825925910.3390/ijerph18010259Revisiting the Village Where Arsenic Contamination of Underground Water Was First Discovered in Bangladesh: Twenty-Five Years LaterMaiko Sakamoto0Department of International Studies, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Chiba 2778563, JapanA survey was conducted in an As-affected village of Bangladesh—the first discovery of As contamination in the country—to assess the current situation and how implementation activities have worked to mitigate the problem. The As testing showed that the levels were less than the Bangladesh standard (50 µg/L) in all shallow tube-wells throughout the village. The questionnaire survey was conducted in the village as well as a neighboring As-affected village for comparison. The results revealed that there was a significant number of people using shallow tube-wells in both villages despite knowing that these wells could be contaminated with As and that safe water was available through a pipeline water supply. About 70% of responding households possessed their own water sources, mostly shallow tube-wells, and owners were less likely to choose tap water for drinking purpose than nonowners. In the village where As contamination was first reported, those individuals with a higher level of education and strong ties with neighbors were more likely to use shallow tube-well water for drinking purposes rather than tap water. This study suggests several measures to mobilize people to get safe water, namely providing subsides to install private taps, supplying public taps, and marketing and distributing handy water quality tests for households.https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/1/259arsenic contaminationunderground waterrisk perceptionrisk communicationquestionnaire surveycommunity-level analysis |
| collection |
DOAJ |
| language |
English |
| format |
Article |
| sources |
DOAJ |
| author |
Maiko Sakamoto |
| spellingShingle |
Maiko Sakamoto Revisiting the Village Where Arsenic Contamination of Underground Water Was First Discovered in Bangladesh: Twenty-Five Years Later International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health arsenic contamination underground water risk perception risk communication questionnaire survey community-level analysis |
| author_facet |
Maiko Sakamoto |
| author_sort |
Maiko Sakamoto |
| title |
Revisiting the Village Where Arsenic Contamination of Underground Water Was First Discovered in Bangladesh: Twenty-Five Years Later |
| title_short |
Revisiting the Village Where Arsenic Contamination of Underground Water Was First Discovered in Bangladesh: Twenty-Five Years Later |
| title_full |
Revisiting the Village Where Arsenic Contamination of Underground Water Was First Discovered in Bangladesh: Twenty-Five Years Later |
| title_fullStr |
Revisiting the Village Where Arsenic Contamination of Underground Water Was First Discovered in Bangladesh: Twenty-Five Years Later |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Revisiting the Village Where Arsenic Contamination of Underground Water Was First Discovered in Bangladesh: Twenty-Five Years Later |
| title_sort |
revisiting the village where arsenic contamination of underground water was first discovered in bangladesh: twenty-five years later |
| publisher |
MDPI AG |
| series |
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health |
| issn |
1661-7827 1660-4601 |
| publishDate |
2021-12-01 |
| description |
A survey was conducted in an As-affected village of Bangladesh—the first discovery of As contamination in the country—to assess the current situation and how implementation activities have worked to mitigate the problem. The As testing showed that the levels were less than the Bangladesh standard (50 µg/L) in all shallow tube-wells throughout the village. The questionnaire survey was conducted in the village as well as a neighboring As-affected village for comparison. The results revealed that there was a significant number of people using shallow tube-wells in both villages despite knowing that these wells could be contaminated with As and that safe water was available through a pipeline water supply. About 70% of responding households possessed their own water sources, mostly shallow tube-wells, and owners were less likely to choose tap water for drinking purpose than nonowners. In the village where As contamination was first reported, those individuals with a higher level of education and strong ties with neighbors were more likely to use shallow tube-well water for drinking purposes rather than tap water. This study suggests several measures to mobilize people to get safe water, namely providing subsides to install private taps, supplying public taps, and marketing and distributing handy water quality tests for households. |
| topic |
arsenic contamination underground water risk perception risk communication questionnaire survey community-level analysis |
| url |
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/1/259 |
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