Women and Children Aid Indian Water Contamination Study

A geologist and graduate student from Kansas State University investigating the mechanisms for how arsenic befouls groundwater and local drinking water supplies have enlisted the help of local women and teenage children to gather critical data for their study.

In a press release available online at EurekAlert, Saugata Datta expresses why the active involvement of the local communities being studied flows naturally:

"We are targeting the women and children 13 to 15 years old, because they are the most available people, more so than the men of the family. These women are not formally educated, but when it comes to this type of suffering, they have a huge voice and they can really articulate the message very clearly to their neighbors and their own families."

The arsenic is naturally occurring, and is believed to stem from the mineral chemistry of rock formations in the Himalayas which become physically and chemically mobilized over time, creating sediments eventually brought to lower lying areas by the Ganges and Brahamaputra rivers. Even though there’s no bad acting or negligence behind the poisoning, the results are still dire. Groundwater arsenic levels in parts of the Indian subcontinent exceed World Health Organization and US EPA safety standards by 30 times, putting those who use that water at risk for developing skin disease, cancers and other serious health problems.

The Kansas State duo’s efforts in gathering as much water quality data as they can, as efficiently as possible, in their attempt to get a handle on the problem are significantly aided with local involvement. Arming the women and children with basic information — color and texture cues that indicate contamination — as well as testing kits, allows problem areas to be more quickly identified than they otherwise would be.

Photo courtesy of Tom Maisey, via WIkimedia Commons