金宝搏188dycDrinking Water Contaminants- ARSENIC

ARSENIC IN 金宝搏188dycDRINKING WATER

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• Inorganic arsenic is a documented human carcinogen.
• 0.01 mg/L was established as a provisional guideline value for arsenic.
• 根据健康标准，饮用水中砷的指南价值将小于0.01mg/l。
• Because the guideline value is restricted by measurement limitations, and 0.01 mg/L is the realistic limit to measurement, this is termed aprovisional guideline value。

这WHO Guidelines for Drinking-water Qualityis intended for use as a basis for the development of national standards in the context of local or national environmental, social, economic, and cultural conditions.

A UN report on arsenic in drinking-water has been prepared in cooperation with other UN agencies under the auspices of an inter-agency coordinating body (the Administrative Committee on Coordination�s Sub-committee on Water Resources. It provides a synthesis of available information on chemical, toxicological, medical, epidemiological, nutritional and public health issues; develops a basic strategy to cope with the problem and advises on removal technologies and on water quality management.

As part of WHO�s activities on the global burden of disease, an estimate of the disease burden associated with arsenic in drinking-water is in preparation. A report entitled "Towards an assessment of the socioeconomic impact of arsenic poisoning in Bangladesh" was released in 2000.

A United Nations Foundation grant for 2.5 million approved in July 2000, will enable UNICEF and WHO to support a project to provide clean drinking-water alternatives to 1.1 million people in three of the worst affected sub-districts in Bangladesh. The project utilizes an integrated approach involving communication, capacity building for arsenic mitigation of all stakeholders at subdistrict level and below, tube-well testing, patient management, and provision of alternative water supply options.

URGENT REQUIREMENTS

• Large-scale support to the management of the problem in developing countries with substantial, severely affected populations.
• Simple, reliable, low-cost equipment for field measurement.
• Increased availability and dissemination of relevant information.
• Robust affordable technologies for arsenic removal at wells and in households.

GLOBAL SITUATION

The delayed health effects of exposure to arsenic, the lack of common definitions and of local awareness as well as poor reporting in affected areas are major problems in determining the extent of the arsenic-in-drinking-water problem.

Reliable data on exposure and health effects are rarely available, but it is clear that there are many countries in the world where arsenic in drinking-water has been detected at concentration greater than the Guideline Value, 0.01 mg/L or the prevailing national standard. These include Argentina, Australia, Bangladesh, Chile, China, Hungary, India, Mexico, Peru, Thailand, and the United States of America. Countries where adverse health effects have been documented include Bangladesh, China, India (West Bengal), and the United States of America. Examples are:

• Seven of 16 districts of West Bengal have been reported to have ground water arsenic concentrations above 0.05 mg/L; the total population in these seven districts is over 34 million (Mandal, et al, 1996) and it has been estimated that the population actually using arsenic-rich water is more than 1 million (above 0.05 mg/L) and is 1.3 million (above 0.01 mg/L) (Chowdhury, et al, 1997).
• 根据1998年英国地质调查研究在孟加拉国64个地区中61个浅水管道上的一项研究，46％的样品高于0.010 mg/l，27％的样本高于0.050 mg/l。当与估计的1999人口结合使用时，据估计，暴露于0.05 mg/L的砷浓度的人数为28-35万，而暴露于0.01 mg/L的人数为46-57万（BGS），2000）。
• 美利坚合众国环境保护局估计，美国大多数在西方州的美国人口中有1300万人以0.01 mg/l的饮用水暴露于砷，尽管浓度似乎通常比那些在孟加拉国和西孟加拉邦等地区遇到的人。（USEPA，2001）

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