Impact of Arsenic Contaminated Irrigation Water in Food Chain: An Overview From Bangladesh

Abstract

Arsenic in ground water is a very serious environmental hazard of Bangladesh and West Bengal of India. The presence of high level of Arsenic (<50 μg/L) in groundwater of Bangladesh has been detected in 1980's. According to World Health Organization (WHO), the permissible limit of arsenic in drinking water is 10 μg/L. 80% of groundwater of the country has been contaminated with arsenic. Nearly 80 million Bangladeshi are now at risk from arsenic related several diseases including cancer. It has been assumed that arsenic is only present in ground water of Bangladesh but some recent studies showed that meantime arsenic had contaminated the agricultural soil as well. A high level of arsenic is also reported food grains and vegetables. The vision of this review is to give an overview of the latest findings of arsenic in agriculture soil and food crops of Bangladesh.