Earthsky Interviews
Jean Bahr on arsenic in drinking water
09-14-2009 - Water
People around the world rely on groundwater as a safe drinking source. But, as University of Wisconsin hydrogeologist Jean Bahr notes, groundwater can sometimes contain toxic substances – like arsenic.
Jean Bahr: We know that in areas of volcanic activity, in areas where metallic mines occur that arsenic is a common constituent in the groundwater. But it wasn’t on our list of things that we analyzed for regularly outside of those areas.
Bahr said that changed in the 1990’s, when health care workers in Bangladesh discovered that arsenic in the groundwater had been causing widespread illness.
Jean Bahr: Various kinds of cancer, and problems with the liver…
She said the incident surprised scientists, because the Bangladeshi groundwater source wasn’t near a volcano or a mine. Bahr added that, today, scientists look for broader features to suggest the presence of arsenic.
Jean Bahr: Is there arsenic in the rocks of sediments? And then, is the water chemistry conducive to actually dissolving those minerals and releasing the arsenic?
Bahr suggested that water drawn from private wells be tested for arsenic and other potential toxic substances, even in the U.S.
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Our thanks to Jean Bahr.
Jean Bahr is professor of hydrogeology at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, and Vice President of the Geological Society of America.
A good example of how natural is not always safe. Not all pollution is man-made. The difference is that we know better.
I was managing a radionuclide contaminated soil remediation in Ohio several years ago. Because it was a Federal site, the EPA and OEPA were both there and analyzing for everything they could think of. After removing 6” of soil over 45 acres, the analysis showed elevated levels of arsenic. We were instructed to take out more soil in several areas. We did so and the areas were resampled. The arsenic levels were even higher. We did this a couple more times with the arsenic levels steadily increasing with depth. The excavation was finally halted when folks realized that we were trying to remove nature from the area.
If you are to go to the northern Idaho area and check the history, you will find that folks there were losing teeth back around the turn of the 20th century in the gold camps. We since have learned it was heavy metal poisoning from the ground water. In that case, the treasure we were chasing was also the enemy killing us. There are many things in nature that can and will kill us.
Nature is not kind, nor does it “like” us or any other animal. It just is. We have been lucky enough to develop minds with which to control the effects of our environment to some extent. We can heat and cool our buildings and clean water to drink.
Without the trappings of our modern industrial world, we are back in the hunter-gatherer lifestyle just fighting to survive. At that point, literature and music don’t matter. just survival.
thats was cool
A good example of natural pollution.
I would like this discussion to go further…(I have arsenic in my well water, 8 x the allowed)…a more precise listing of illnesses associated with aresenic ingestion through drinking would be nice. Is is safe to bathe in? My bigger question, can I grow food with arsenic laced water without consequences? When I asked around (i.e., my county extension office, U of A in Tucson, etc.,), I found out that U of A was writing a proposal for a grant to study that very thing because nobody knew the answer, but have not heard a word since. Ms. Bahr or anybody out there, that can help?