Arsenic minerals are common on Earth’s surface and are continually released to the environment through natural weathering processes. However, human economic activities have dramatically
increased this rate of release which is a cause for environmental
concern. The situation can be alarming in the areas experiencing
frequent drought conditions, because drought conditions enhance
pyrite dissolution whose degradation products contaminate the
groundwater (Pili et al., 2012). In these areas, dependence on
groundwater for irrigation enhances the possibility of arsenic contamination of shallow water bodies through surface runoff, and
may get further concentrated due to the high rate of evaporation
(Balazs et al., 2012). In the most affected districts of Bangladesh,
that shares borders with the present study location in India, shallow groundwater concentrations of arsenic average between 100
and 370