Water is an essential commodity for the nourishment of
human life as well as sustainable functioning of our global
ecosystem. Only a small fraction of the available water in the
earth can be considered potable, which can either have
surface water (e.g. rivers, lakes etc.) or groundwater sources.
However, in recent years, the presence of elevated concentrations
of various organic and inorganic pollutants from natural
and anthropogenic sources has limited the amount of safe,
potable water available. Ingestion of these pollutants for over
long-time can severely impair the healthy functioning of both
human and other animal lives.
Among drinking water pollutants, arsenic (As) is regarded
as the most formidable contaminant on a global scale (ATSDR,
2005). Until the last couple of decades, As was often not
regularly monitored in drinking water for water quality
assessment. Hence, the existing scientific knowledge for
distribution of As is limited and has evolved mostly from
very recent studies. Arsenic can range from b0.1 μg/L to
~5000 μg/L in natural water. Although the first cases of
widespread As poisoning inwater were discovered as early as
late 19th century [(e.g. northern Appalachian mountains
(Hitchcock, 1878) black-foot disease in Taiwan (Tseng et al.,
1968)], itwas not since the discovery of As in the Bengal basin,
beginning in late 1980s, that the study of As in surface and
groundwater gained its impetus. Following the increasing
evidence for the chronic toxicological effects of As in drinking
water, water quality regulatory bodies started setting permissible
limits of As for safe drinking water consumption. In view
of this increasing awareness of the toxicity of As
Water is an essential commodity for the nourishment of
human life as well as sustainable functioning of our global
ecosystem. Only a small fraction of the available water in the
earth can be considered potable, which can either have
surface water (e.g. rivers, lakes etc.) or groundwater sources.
However, in recent years, the presence of elevated concentrations
of various organic and inorganic pollutants from natural
and anthropogenic sources has limited the amount of safe,
potable water available. Ingestion of these pollutants for over
long-time can severely impair the healthy functioning of both
human and other animal lives.
Among drinking water pollutants, arsenic (As) is regarded
as the most formidable contaminant on a global scale (ATSDR,
2005). Until the last couple of decades, As was often not
regularly monitored in drinking water for water quality
assessment. Hence, the existing scientific knowledge for
distribution of As is limited and has evolved mostly from
very recent studies. Arsenic can range from b0.1 μg/L to
~5000 μg/L in natural water. Although the first cases of
widespread As poisoning inwater were discovered as early as
late 19th century [(e.g. northern Appalachian mountains
(Hitchcock, 1878) black-foot disease in Taiwan (Tseng et al.,
1968)], itwas not since the discovery of As in the Bengal basin,
beginning in late 1980s, that the study of As in surface and
groundwater gained its impetus. Following the increasing
evidence for the chronic toxicological effects of As in drinking
water, water quality regulatory bodies started setting permissible
limits of As for safe drinking water consumption. In view
of this increasing awareness of the toxicity of As
การแปล กรุณารอสักครู่..
