Arsenic pollution means arsenic-contaminated water. Nowadays, this pollution is causing hazards to our health. Of late arsenic pollution has become one of the most health hazards in Bangladesh. This element mixes with water especially with tube well water and pollutes it. By drinking arsenic water, people get the disease. Arsenic is a fatal poison. The parts of the body like liver, kidney, heart, stomach, skin, etc. are badly affected by arsenic pollution.
One of the causes of arsenic pollution is the use of deep tube well water indiscriminately. It has been deposited in that layer of the soil from here our tube-wells pump out water. This arsenic soil pollutes the underground water which is extracted by tube- well. As a result in most areas of Bangladesh, tube-well water is contaminated with arsenic. Due to arsenic pollution, skin gets peeled off. Itching becomes our constant companion. A high cough and ophthalmic attack our body as a sign of arsenic pollution. Patients with this disease are medically treated according to the symptoms.
Arsenic is a kind of poisonous element. Poisoning by arsenic is a slow process. Arsenic pollution has made the scarcity of drinking water acute though our country is water-rich. This kind of water is harmful to drinking. Long term poisoning may cause death to the affected persons. The irony of fate is that “water, water everywhere nor a drop to drink.” It is a hard nut to crack. Our ignorant people are drinking arsenic polluted water from tube wells and are human being affected by arsenicosis. Many people have been found to be affected by it for drinking water contaminated with arsenic. Those who do not eat fish and vegetables are easily affected. The primary treatment of this disease is a balanced diet. It is believed that vitamin A, C, E are effective for arsenicosis treatment. Arsenic is such a poison that damages all the vital organs ore after another resulting in the subsequent death of the sufferer. Arsenicosis has no remedy nor has it any antidote. The water of the pond and river can be drunk after purification. Hence arsenic pollution demands the utmost attention. Rainwater is safe and free from arsenic. An affected person should drink arsenic-free water and take vitamins A, C, E to come round. If uncontaminated water is not found, it should be filtered through pitchers containing sand. Arsenic polluted water has been termed as the killing water.
The effect of arsenic pollution is very serious. There has been a worldwide awareness of this problem. An arsenic affected man loses his stamina to work. Aids from different corners are reaching. But these are so expensive in our country that the patients fail to take treatment properly. All the arsenic affected tube-wells should be marked with red color. Deep tube wells rainwater, reservoirs, surface water treatment, etc may be the pragmatic measures to minimize the problem to a great extent. As it is a national problem, the government should think over the matter and should make conscious people prevent arsenicosis.
