Bangladesh is experiencing various types of pollution. Recently we are having the experience of arsenic pollution in addition to air and water pollution.
Arsenic is a kind of poisonous element. This poisonous element gets mixed with water specially with tubewell. water and causes aresenic pollution. The wide spread use of tubewell causes arsenic pollution and ultimately creates health hazards. Many other countries also are now experiencing arsenie pollution. Recently the people of the south west districts in Bangladesh have had experience of arsenic pollution. The aggravating situation has created a sort of panic among the people of our cour try. Arsenic pollution in Bangladesh has first been discovered in 1984.
The opinion of the specialists is that the situation of arsenic pollution is very dreadful. Out of suspicion 2500 tubewells of 34 districts were scanned and almost every tubewell was found to be polluted by arsenic poisoning.
Arsenic is found available in our natural environment. It remains active in the soil and coal in the form of ore. It is also found in vegetables, fishes, meats etc. Besides this, it is found in industrial areas, glass and ceramic industries. The preservation of leather is done with the help of arsenic.
There are some definite causes for arsenic pollution. Because of some chemical reaction, arsenic gets it makes the level of the soil poisoning. But the most important cause of arsenic pollution is the indiscriminate use of water from tubewells. Arsenic mixes with tubewell water and pollutes it.
The effect of arsenic pollution is very serious and alarming. Arsenic can attack different cells of human body very fast. The parts of body like liver, kidney, heart, stomach, skin are badly affected by arsenic pollution. Due to arsenic pollution, skin gets peeled off. Itching (f) becomes constant companions of the patients. Face becomes flattened.
Adequate facilities for medical treatment of arsenic attack are not available in Bangladesh. Patients attacked with aresnic are treated according to the symptoms. In fact, the arsenic patients should be removed from the source of arsenic and the medicine of chronic arsenic poisoning must be applied to the sores found on the skin. Moreover, we should take some measures to prevent arsenic pollution. Specially awareness about arsenic pollution should be created among the people of our country. To prevent arsenic pollutions, the following preventive measures may be adopted:
(a) The tube-wells affected by arsenic pollution should be banned and their use should be strictly prohibited
For this reason aresnic polluted tube-wells should be painted red and arsenic free tube-wells should be painted green.
(b) Instead of tube-well water, rain water should be stored and used.
(c) Water should be filtered to make it free from arsenic pollution.
At present, arsenic pollution has assumed a serious turn in Bangladesh. We should take necessary steps so that we can get rid of this problem very soon.
