Inquiries, Jan 2012. Abstract
Arsenic contamination of natural waters has become an issue of growing concern, particularly in Southeast Asia, to the extent that the World Health Organization (WHO) declared groundwater contamination on the Bengal delta the largest mass poisoning of a population in history. Because much of southern Nepal lies within the same Ganges drainage basin as West Bengal and western Bangladesh, Nepal is also one of the epicenters of the problem.1 The problem in Nepal is limited to the Terai region, that covers about 20 districts where 29% of tube wells have arsenic concentrations exceeding the WHO standard (10 g/L) with approximately 0.5 million people at risk of consuming water with an arsenic concentration > 50 mg/L.8 Studies have shown that the number of arsenic contaminated wells is rising, signifying arsenic poisoning as one of the major public health threats in Nepal.