Test all wells for arsenic, says health expert

By Jeremy Laurance, Health Editor
Published: 13 June 2007

Drinking water poisoned with arsenic may be causing cancer on the same scale as passive smoking, affecting millions of people worldwide, a public health specialist has warned.

Every private well or borehole in the world used for drinking water should be tested for the presence of the metal, Professor Allan Smith, an epidemiologist at the University of California, Berkeley, said. Research in northern Chile, one of the most heavily contaminated areas, has shown that between 5 and 10 per cent of the population died from arsenic poisoning, most from lung and bladder cancer.

"That is the highest death rate caused by something in the environment in the world," said Professor Smith. "The problem with arsenic is that it is colourless and odourless, unlike other causes of lung cancer such as cigarette smoke and diesel fumes. It is very hard to convince people that water that is crystal clear and tastes fine could kill them."

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