Earth Institute

Columbia University Superfund Research Program Seminar Series: Challenges and Opportunities to Mitigate Arsenic Risks in Health, Water Supply and Agricultural Sector

Monday, February 27, 2012 from 3:00 pm to 4:00 pm

Location: Columbia University, Health Sciences Campus, William Black Medical Research Building, Pharmacology Library, 7th Floor, Room 724, 650 West 168th Street, New York City

Contact: For further information regarding this event, please contact Nancy Lo Iacono by sending email to njl2@columbia.edu or by calling 212-305-1623.

Speaker: Yan Zheng, Professor of Geochemistry, Queens College, City University of New York (CUNY); Adjunct Senior Research Scientist, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, The Earth Institute, Columbia University

The Columbia University Superfund Research Program Seminar Series presents "Challenges and Opportunities to Mitigate Arsenic Risks in Health, Water Supply and Agricultural Sector," with Yan Zheng, Professor of Geochemistry, Queens College, City University of New York (CUNY) and Adjunct Senior Research Scientist, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, The Earth Institute, Columbia University. Open to the public.

If you are interested in participating remotely, please send an email to mgolden@ciesin.columbia.edu with "SRP webinar" in the subject heading by Friday, February 24th to receive an invitation to our webinar.

Occurrence of groundwater with elevated concentrations of arsenic is well recognized in several countries in South Asia, including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Pakistan.  It has been estimated that about 50 million people are exposed to arsenic at concentration greater than 0.05 mg/L, the drinking water standard for most of these countries.  In Bangladesh, 1 in 14 adult deaths is attributable to chronic exposure to arsenic at current exposure level, resulting in significant economic loss.  Lowering exposure from drinking water is the most effective intervention strategy whereby coordinated efforts by the water supply and the health sectors can improve targeting the worst affected population.

When arsenic-laden groundwater is pumped for irrigation, arsenic accumulates in soil, and in turn, rice grains. This has been shown to reduce rice yield. Hence, it is only a matter of time that arsenic will have a significant impact on food security and food safety.

A key challenge in developing of a coordinated approach to support multi-sectorial implementation plans for arsenic mitigation is that it needs to be initiated by the highest level of the government.  A regional dialogue among policy and decision makers and technical experts offers an opportunity towards re-defining the arsenic issue as being a multi-sectorial one, and to call on the highest level of political support from the government to address it with adequate financing. Such dialogue can also be used to articulate solutions drawn from experiences from countries in this region to be implemented in the near future.

Sponsors: Earth Institute

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