A: List the major ideas, concepts or key points- point by point
In the article, the author talks about the hazards of arsenic in drinking water and the problems it causes in countries that drinks from groundwater. The most common danger of arsenic in drinking water is cancers which lead to deaths. Even if people don't drink water contaminated with arsenic, people can still get contaminated by eating crops watered by that contaminated. Some tubewells were found to poison in some villages while some were found not to be poisoned at all. One interesting fact is that some tubewells were poisoned while nearby tubewells were found not to be poisoned. Monitoring for arsenic and other toxic chemicals in our waters must become routine in all regions of the world where people drink water.
C: Write a reaction paragraph to the article stating your own thoughts on the topic, using specific citations from the article to support your views
After reading this article I've learned that there is arsenic in drinking water. This has made me afraid about drinking water. The fact that even if I don't drink water, and I can still get arsenic in me by eating crops watered by the same water scares me even more. I think what we should do is focus on preventing toxic chemicals in the water supply. Though advance filtering techniques are expensive, we can still wisely distribute the water so the cost is less expensive.
So what?:
Says who?:
What if...? We do nothing:
What does this remind me of?: The movie we watched in class Erin Brockovich. In the movie she too discovered contaminated water that caused cancer to people.
- 1970'S and 1980's Bangladesh government along with UNICEF took a project to bring clean water to the nation's villages.
- Children were dying of diarrhea from drinking surface water contaminated with bacteria.
- The preferred solution was a tubewell: a simple, hardy, hand-operated pump that sucks water through a pipe from a shallow underground aquifer
- The tubewell became a prized possession: lessened burden of woman who no longer had to trek long distances with pots and pails. Provided a pathogen-free water to drink
- By early 1990s, 95% of Bangladesh population had access to safe water, all of it through 10 million tubewells.
- Everyone neglected to check the water for arsenic
- As early as 1983, dermatologist Kshitish C. Saha of School of Tropical Medicine in neighboring Kolkata,India, had identified the skin lesions on some patients as arising from arsenic poison.
- He traced mineral to water from tubewells. Patients were mostly from the eastern Indian state of West Bengal, which shares aquifers with Bangladesh
- Many aquifers in West Bengal were severely contaminated with arsenic
- British Geological Survey conducted extensive test on Bangladesh water supply in 1993 and pronounced it safe, not testing for arsenic
- The same year, Abdul W. Khan of Department of Public Health Engineering in Bangladesh discovered arsenic in the tubewell
- Today, 30% of Bangladesh tubewells are known to yield more than 50 micrograms of arsenic per liter of water with 5 to 10% providing more than six times the amount
- Bangladesh govt specifies more than 50 micrograms per liter as being dangerous
- That means at leas 35 million people are drinking potentially fatal levels of arsenic
- Another concern is that Bangladeshis may be ingesting arsenic through a second route: the grain they eat two or three times a day.
- Rice fields are irrigated with pumped underground water in dry months
- Researchers from University of Aberdeen in Scotland found that arsenic content of local rice varies from 50 to 180ppb. Vegetables contained 100ppm of arsenic
- Arsenic is also in communities of India, Nepal, Vietnam, China, Argentina, U.S
- Arsenic in drinking water constitutes the largest case of mass poisoning in history
- First sign of poisoning is black spots on the upper chest, back and arms, known as melanosis.
- Palms of hands or soles of feet become hard and lose sensation
- Patient may suffer conjunctivitis, bronchitis and diarrhea and abdominal pain
- Symptoms describe the first stage of arsenicosis, as arsenic-induced ailments are known.
- In second stage, white spots appear mixed up with black, legs swell and palms and soles crack and bleed
- Finding a permanent solution to arsenic will take several years.
- Current rate of testing it oculd take several years to cover the entire nation
- Monitoring for arsenic and other chemicals and pathogens must become routine in all regions of the world where people drink water
In the article, the author talks about the hazards of arsenic in drinking water and the problems it causes in countries that drinks from groundwater. The most common danger of arsenic in drinking water is cancers which lead to deaths. Even if people don't drink water contaminated with arsenic, people can still get contaminated by eating crops watered by that contaminated. Some tubewells were found to poison in some villages while some were found not to be poisoned at all. One interesting fact is that some tubewells were poisoned while nearby tubewells were found not to be poisoned. Monitoring for arsenic and other toxic chemicals in our waters must become routine in all regions of the world where people drink water.
C: Write a reaction paragraph to the article stating your own thoughts on the topic, using specific citations from the article to support your views
After reading this article I've learned that there is arsenic in drinking water. This has made me afraid about drinking water. The fact that even if I don't drink water, and I can still get arsenic in me by eating crops watered by the same water scares me even more. I think what we should do is focus on preventing toxic chemicals in the water supply. Though advance filtering techniques are expensive, we can still wisely distribute the water so the cost is less expensive.
So what?:
- Arsenic can be found in water
- can cause cancer
- used to water crops
Says who?:
- A. Mushtaque R. Chowdhury
What if...? We do nothing:
- more people could get cancer
- more deaths
What does this remind me of?: The movie we watched in class Erin Brockovich. In the movie she too discovered contaminated water that caused cancer to people.