From Pradeep Aggarwal, International Atomic Energy Agency
Your story on testing for arsenic in water from wells in Bangladesh was timely and interesting (16 November, p 4). But the implied solutions – laboratory testing and use of deeper groundwater – are also fraught with danger and must be carefully evaluated.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has evaluated the accuracy and precision of arsenic analyses provided by a number of laboratories in Bangladesh. The results show that quality assurance is a serious problem.
The study that you cite from Robert Poreda was in fact conducted as a part of an IAEA project. While we co-authored the paper published in Water Resources Research, we do not agree with the statement you have quoted that digging deeper to get at arsenic-free water is the solution to the current problem.
The deep aquifer contains old water that is not being recharged. Drilling wells indiscriminately could cause arsenic to migrate into the aquifer through the wells themselves. In addition, large-scale use of the deep aquifer is ultimately unsustainable and must be carefully evaluated and managed.
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