Arsenic behaviour from groundwater and soil to crops: Impacts on agriculture and food safety

Arsenic (As) in groundwater poses a major health concern in Asia. To date, unacceptably high As levels in groundwater resources have been found in parts of Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, the Lao People's Democratic Republic, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Thailand, and Viet Nam (Mandal and Suzuki 2002; Ng et al. 2003). Numerous reviews on arsenic in the environment have been published recently (Chakraborti et al. 2002; Mandal and Suzuki 2002; Ng et al. 2003; WHO 2001). Bangladesh was reported to have the highest percentage (∼25%) of contaminated shallow tube wells (STW), and an estimated 30 million people are dependent on these water wells for domestic purposes. © 2007 Springer.