Journal
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Volume 108, Issue 4, Pages 1246-1251Publisher
NATL ACAD SCIENCES
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1011915108
Keywords
three-dimensional risk modeling; anthropogenic influence; drinking water resources; geogenic contamination; health threat
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Funding
- Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation
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Arsenic contamination of shallow groundwater is among the biggest health threats in the developing world. Targeting uncontaminated deep aquifers is a popular mitigation option although its long-term impact remains unknown. Here we present the alarming results of a large-scale groundwater survey covering the entire Red River Delta and a unique probability model based on three-dimensional Quaternary geology. Our unprecedented dataset reveals that similar to 7 million delta inhabitants use groundwater contaminated with toxic elements, including manganese, selenium, and barium. Depth-resolved probabilities and arsenic concentrations indicate drawdown of arsenic-enriched waters from Holocene aquifers to naturally uncontaminated Pleistocene aquifers as a result of >100 years of groundwater abstraction. Vertical arsenic migration induced by large-scale pumping from deep aquifers has been discussed to occur elsewhere, but has never been shown to occur at the scale seen here. The present situation in the Red River Delta is a warning for other As-affected regions where groundwater is extensively pumped from uncontaminated aquifers underlying high arsenic aquifers or zones.
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