By Radio Australia's Liam Cochrane
The UN says 1.7 million people living along the Mekong River are at risk of arsenic poisoning from their drinking water supplies.
The risk assessment is part of ongoing efforts to survey wells and other water sources in South East Asia.
Cambodia's deputy director of the rural water supply department, Nuon Pichnimith, told ABC Radio Australia that worrying levels of exposure were being found in the four countries which depend of the Mekong river - China, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.
"Surprisingly we found arsenic problems, especially some wells that are near the Mekong River," he said.
"In most of the flooding area, when we tested we saw the arsenic."
Currently UNICEF has half a million arsenic tests logged in a database and a report mapping the high-risk areas of the world is due out soon.
So far, testing has found Asia's hotspots to be in Burma's Irrawaddy delta, the Red River delta of China, Thailand's Chao Praya basin and Cambodia's Tonle Sap lake - as well as the Mekong.
While entire river systems may be considered at risk, it can be difficult to pick the safe wells from the deadly.
"When you actually go and test the wells, you find that there might be arsenic in one well and 50 metres away there would be no arsenic, so it's a very localised problem," said Mark Henderson, UNICEF's regional adviser for water, sanitation and hygiene.
Arsenic is released naturally into some groundwater systems as a result of normal geo-chemical processes, but when people drink it, the poison can build up to dangerous levels, and cause skin lesions and cancers.
Arsenic is difficult to detect in water supplies, as it has no taste or smell, and the side effects can take several years to show up.
Despite the difficulties, Mr Henderson says efforts to contain the problem are making progress.
"We've reached a point where governments pretty much understand the problem, they have a handle on where the hotspots are, they've developed national strategies to address it," he said.
"And now it's a matter of just implementing those strategies, continuing to support those communities who are at risk of arsenic and finding alternative safe water sources for them."
The problem of arsenic poisoning in water supplies originally emerged in Bangladesh and India in the 90s, as the drilling of new wells exposed tens of millions of people to its ill effects.
The risk assessment is part of ongoing efforts to survey wells and other water sources in South East Asia.
Cambodia's deputy director of the rural water supply department, Nuon Pichnimith, told ABC Radio Australia that worrying levels of exposure were being found in the four countries which depend of the Mekong river - China, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.
"Surprisingly we found arsenic problems, especially some wells that are near the Mekong River," he said.
"In most of the flooding area, when we tested we saw the arsenic."
Currently UNICEF has half a million arsenic tests logged in a database and a report mapping the high-risk areas of the world is due out soon.
So far, testing has found Asia's hotspots to be in Burma's Irrawaddy delta, the Red River delta of China, Thailand's Chao Praya basin and Cambodia's Tonle Sap lake - as well as the Mekong.
While entire river systems may be considered at risk, it can be difficult to pick the safe wells from the deadly.
"When you actually go and test the wells, you find that there might be arsenic in one well and 50 metres away there would be no arsenic, so it's a very localised problem," said Mark Henderson, UNICEF's regional adviser for water, sanitation and hygiene.
Arsenic is released naturally into some groundwater systems as a result of normal geo-chemical processes, but when people drink it, the poison can build up to dangerous levels, and cause skin lesions and cancers.
Arsenic is difficult to detect in water supplies, as it has no taste or smell, and the side effects can take several years to show up.
Despite the difficulties, Mr Henderson says efforts to contain the problem are making progress.
"We've reached a point where governments pretty much understand the problem, they have a handle on where the hotspots are, they've developed national strategies to address it," he said.
"And now it's a matter of just implementing those strategies, continuing to support those communities who are at risk of arsenic and finding alternative safe water sources for them."
The problem of arsenic poisoning in water supplies originally emerged in Bangladesh and India in the 90s, as the drilling of new wells exposed tens of millions of people to its ill effects.
3 comments:
I am sure Scam Rainxy is happy with this news. He must be so glad that something bad happen to Cambodia. The more deaths, the better for SRP. They can then ask foreign donors to stop aids, which will kill poor people. They will criticize the government for not being rich as Australia or Canada, saying that the government is corrupt.
Well, know what? Cambodia made great progress in its short history of peace. Scam is only in PP riding car around criticizing the government for less than 2 decades and he thinks Cambodia will be heaven if he is elected. All developments are the credits that belong to Hun Sen. Scam is foreign idiot in Cambodia ready to run whenever there is trouble for poor people.
I am sure Scam and his idiotic supporter is happy now that this news is finally reported by the UN, which used to support the Khmer Rouge genocide anyway. If I see any of them alone, I will hurt them very bad.
Fuck you fucken shit head scam rainxy cunt.
In my community, a NGO dig a well but it was unfit to drink or for watering the plants due to high level of arsenic. To test whether if your water well contains arsenic, check if your water has reddish color.If you cannot see the reddish color, spill the water unto a cement floor. Under the hot sun the water evarporated,the red stain is clearly visible on the cement floor. The villagers tried to filter the metallic toxin through a layer of find sand and charcoal. It removed the toxin to a certain degree.
hamona hamoot
12:23
Ah lop!! Leave politic out of this..ah pler
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