 Already a public health crisis, the problem of arsenic in water supplies in developing countries has become more serious with the discovery of arsenic-laced groundwaters in Vietnam. A research article written by Michael Berg and co-authors (see pp 2621-2626) reports that several million Vietnamese people consuming untreated groundwater might be at considerable risk of chronic arsenic poisoning.
A companion feature article written by Kris Christen discusses what has been discovered, geochemical conditions leading to arsenic contamination, the lack of reliable field test kits needed to monitor for arsenic in water supplies, and efforts to protect public health.
The cover photograph is of a woman washing vegetables with water from a tubewell in Chau Quan hamlet, Thanh Tri district, south of Hanoi. The region has some of the highest levels of arsenic in drinking water. Nguyen Viet Thanh, the photographer who took the picture, works for the magazine Bao anh Vietnam. |
