IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/nature/v454y2008i7203d10.1038_nature07093.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Near-surface wetland sediments as a source of arsenic release to ground water in Asia

Author

Listed:
  • Matthew L. Polizzotto

    (School of Earth Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA)

  • Benjamin D. Kocar

    (School of Earth Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA)

  • Shawn G. Benner

    (Boise State University, Boise, Idaho 83705, USA)

  • Michael Sampson

    (Resource Development International – Cambodia, PO Box 494, Phnom Penh, Cambodia)

  • Scott Fendorf

    (School of Earth Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA)

Abstract

Arsenic poisoning: Sources of contamination identified What may be the largest mass poisoning in history is occurring now, across southeast Asia, where millions of people are drinking arsenic-tainted well water. Arsenic is naturally derived from eroded Himalayan sediments, but the processes controlling passage of arsenic release into pore water remain unclear. This is partly attributed to a poor understanding of groundwater flow paths altered by extensive irrigation pumping. Polizzotto et al. now use hydrologic and biogeochemical measurements to show that on the minimally disturbed Mekong Delta of Cambodia, arsenic is released from near-surface, river-derived sediments and transported, on a centennial timescale, through the underlying aquifer back to the river. These results represent a model for understanding pre-disturbance conditions for other major deltas in Asia.

Suggested Citation

  • Matthew L. Polizzotto & Benjamin D. Kocar & Shawn G. Benner & Michael Sampson & Scott Fendorf, 2008. "Near-surface wetland sediments as a source of arsenic release to ground water in Asia," Nature, Nature, vol. 454(7203), pages 505-508, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:454:y:2008:i:7203:d:10.1038_nature07093
    DOI: 10.1038/nature07093
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/nature07093
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/nature07093?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. J. M. Gibson & D. Rigby & D. A. Polya & N. Russell, 2016. "Discrete Choice Experiments in Developing Countries: Willingness to Pay Versus Willingness to Work," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 65(4), pages 697-721, December.
    2. Thomas Murphy & Kongkea Phan & Kim Neil Irvine & David Lean, 2021. "The Role of Micronutrients and Toxic Metals in the Management of Epidemics in Cambodia," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(21), pages 1-25, October.
    3. Xiaoyun Sui & Yongxia Chen & Zhi Lu & Yifeng Chen, 2015. "A bibliometric analysis of research papers related to the Mekong River," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 105(1), pages 419-434, October.
    4. Hosterman, H. R., 2009. "Water, climate change, and adaptation: focus on the Ganges River Basin," IWMI Working Papers H042415, International Water Management Institute.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:454:y:2008:i:7203:d:10.1038_nature07093. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.