Party and State: Arsenic risk for Millions in China

Friday, August 23, 2013

Luis Rodríguez-Lado, at the University of Santiago de Compostela in Spain has developed a computer model that predicts nearly 20 million Chinese people could be at risk from water tainted by arsenic.

The researchers identified eight environmental variables that can predict whether a region’s groundwater will have high arsenic concentrations. For example, arsenic contamination tends to happen in wet areas with salty soil and sediments younger than about 12,000 years. After using these and other factors to map the arsenic risk in China, the researchers matched it with population data to estimate that roughly 19.6 million Chinese people live near contaminated groundwater.

Arsenic does occur naturally underground, and the absurd levels of Chinese pollutants aren't necessarily to blame entirely. But the probably don't help.