Naturally occurring (geogenic) groundwater arsenic (As) contamination is a problem of global significance. It occurs in large parts of the alluvial and deltaic aquifers in South and Southeast Asia.
Arsenic is tasteless and odourless and is therefore often unknowingly consumed by tens of millions of people around the world. If ingested over long periods it can cause serious damage to humans, even in low concentrations, thus causing enormous public health problems in countries such as Bangladesh, Vietnam, Cambodia, India and many more places.
In a new paper in Nature Geoscience, scientists have used computer simulations to more precisely identify the sources of arsenic pollution and to better predict how fast arsenic pollution is spreading in aquifers that are used for drinking water production.
The vital research deciphers the important role that the river-groundwater interface can play as a source for arsenic release pollution.
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