ARSENIC CONTAMINATION IN GROUND

WATER IN THE REGIONS SURROUNDING

KOLKATA AND WEST BENGAL

NAME: AMIT RANA

DEPARTMENT: CIVIL ENGINEERING
ROLL: 16501312
YEAR: 3RD YEAR,2015
Under the supervision of
RIDDHO CHOWDHURY

APPROVAL SHEET
This project report entitled ARSENIC CONTAMINATION IN GROUND WATER
IN THE REGIONS SURROUNDING KOLKATA AND WEST BENGAL

by AMIT

RANA is approved for the seminar project report in CIVIL

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CERTIFICATE
It is certified that the work contained in the project titled ARSENIC
CONTAMINATION IN GROUND WATER IN THE AREAS
SURROUNDING KOLKATA AND WEST BENGAL, by AMIT
RANA has been carried out under my supervision and that this work has
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Contents
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
VI.
VII.
VIII.
IX.
X.
XI.
XII.
XIII.
XIV.
XV.
XVI.
XVII.
XVIII.

XIX.
XX.
XXI.

Title page
Certificate of Approval
Declaration
Certificate
Preface
Acknowledgements
List of Figures
List of Tables
Abstract
Chapter1: Introduction
Chapter2: Uses of Arsenic
Chapter3: Arsenic Contamination in ground water
Chapter4: Geographical condition of West Bengal
Chapter5: Processes by which Arsenic is getting mixed with Ground Water
Chapter6: Arsenic Cycle
Chapter 7: Ovrall Contamination situation in West Bengal
Chapter 8: Contamination situation in Kolkata
Chapter 9: Effects of Arsenic Consumption
Chapter 10: Arsenic Level in common foods

Chapter 11: Limiting Exposures to Arsenic

Chapter 12: Control Measures

PREFACE
As a part of the B-Tech Curriculum and in order to gain knowledge
regarding one of the overlooked naturally occurring element that can
cause serious damage to human survival in an area, we are required to
make a report on ARSENIC CONTAMINATION IN THE AREAS
SURROUNDING KOLKATA AND WEST BENGAL.
In this project report we have included various uses, effects of arsenic and
also detailed the damage it can cause to the living beings in several ways.
Doing this Project report helped us to enhance our knowledge regarding
Arsenic (As) and through this report we come to know the importance of
arsenic free water.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to thank our mentor Asst.Prof. Riddho Chaudhury for
his invaluable guidance and encouragement during the course of this
project. Grateful acknowledgement is made to all the staff and faculty
members of Civil Engineering Department, Calcutta Institute of
Engineering and Management for their encouragement. I would also like
to thank my group members for their invaluable suggestions and help.
In spite of numerous citations above, the author accepts full
responsibility for the content that follows.

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
Over the past two or three decades, of occurrence of high
concentrations of arsenic in drinking-water has been recognized as a
major public-health concern in several parts of the world. There have
been a few review works covering the arsenic-contamination scenario
around the world (1-3). With the discovery of newer sites in the recent
past, the arsenic-contamination scenario around the world, especially
in Asian countries, has changed considerably. Before 2000, there were
five major incidents of arsenic contamination in groundwater in Asian
countries: Bangladesh, West Bengal, India, and sites in China.
Arsenic is a chemical element with symbol As and atomic
number 33. Arsenic occurs in many minerals, usually in conjunction with
sulfur and metals, and also as a pure elemental crystal. Arsenic is
a metalloid. It can exist in various allotropes, although only the gray form
has important use in industry.
Adverse health effects of arsenic depend strongly on the dose and duration
of exposure.
Specific dermatological effects are characteristics of chronic exposure to
arsenic. Salient Dermatological features are Melanesia (pigmentation)
and keratosis (rough, dry, popular Skin lesions), both may be spotted or
diffuse. Chronic exposure to arsenic may also cause reproductive,
neurological, cardiovascular, respiratory, hepatic, hematological, and
diabetic effects in humans .Ingestion of inorganic arsenic is an established
cause of skin, bladder, and lung cancer .

CHAPTER 2: USES OF ARSENIC

The main use of metallic arsenic is for strengthening alloys of copper and
especially lead (for example, in car batteries).
Used as common n-type dopant in semiconductor electronic devices.
Arsenic and its compounds, especially the trioxide, are used in the
production of pesticides, treated wood products, herbicides,
and insecticides.
A few species of bacteria are able to use arsenic compounds as
respiratory metabolites. Experimentally, tiny quantities of arsenic are an
essential dietary element in the rat, hamster, goat, chicken, and
presumably many other species, including humans.

CHAPTER 3: ARSENIC CONTAMINATION IN

GROUND WATER

Arsenic contamination of groundwater is a form of groundwater

pollution which is often due to naturally occurring high concentrations
of arsenic in deeper levels of groundwater. It is a serious problem caused,
mainly, by the use of deep tubewells for water supply in the Ganges
Delta, causing serious arsenic poisoning to large numbers of people. A
2007 study found that over 137 million people in more than 70 countries
are probably affected by arsenic poisoning of drinking water.

CHAPTER 4: GEOLOGICAL CONDITION OF WEST BENGAL

West Bengal is one of the 29 states in India. It extends to the east longitude
85o50E and 89o50E and north latitude 21o10N and 27o38N. The area of
West Bengal is 89193 sq. km having a population of about 80.1 million.
Its administrative structure consists of several districts: each district has
several blocks/police stations; each block has several Gram Panchayats
(GPs), which are cluster of villages. There are 19 districts, 341 blocks and
37910 villages in West Bengal. We have covered all 19 districts covering
241 of 341 total blocks, and 7823 villages from West Bengal India.
Regional Geological setting:
The State of West Bengal can be divided into four physiographic parts:
Districts of Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri and Koochbihar in the Himalayan
Region.
District of Purulia and Western part of the districts of Burdwan,
Medinipur, Birbhum and northern part of Bankura occupy the
eastern fringe of Chotanagpur Plateau.
Sundarban area of the South 24 Parganas and small part of North 24
Parganas form the Deltaic zone.
Remaining areas of the State being plains.

CHAPTER 5: PROCESSES BY WHICH ARSENIC IS

GETTING MIXED WITH GROUND WATER

150-250m thick granular zone occurring as alluvial fans in the extreme northern
part of West Bengal acts as the recharge zone for the unconfined aquifers with high
permeability. This zone receives on an average 3000mm of rainfall annually. This
granular zone gets separated in most of the areas by 2 to 10 m thick clay layers
within a depth of about 300m where confined groundwater occurs. These aquifers
at depth to the south of the fan zone are hydraulically connected to the recharge
zone and contain groundwater mildly affected by arsenic. The recent flood plain
deposits of Malda district, however, recorded high concentration of groundwater
arsenic.
The subsurface geological picture of the southern part of West Bengal to the east
of the Achaeans shield area is nearly similar to its northern counterpart except the
absence of cobbles and pebbles in the sequence and the Pleistocene sediments
covering almost one-half of the area to the east of the shield area. Eastward
Holocene deltaic sediments that by nature are characterized by frequent change in
facieses from sand to clay and vice-versa at short distances both laterally and
vertically follow it. At the delta head located in Murshidabad and Nadia districts,
150-250m thick granular zone containing groundwater with high concentration of
arsenic under unconfined condition occurs. It forms the recharge zone for the
deeper aquifers down south. Like the Northern part, here also this thick granular
zone gets separated by several clay layers, the thickness of which gradually
increases southward. Beside, a clay layer appears at the top of the sequence with
thickness gradually increasing southward from 2 to 30m precluding direct rainfall
recharge to the group of aquifers below the top clay. These aquifers constitute the
confined aquifer system receiving water from the recharge area to the north as well
as to the west formed by the weathered sections within the crystalline rocks in the
shield area.
In and around Kolkata beside the top clay layer, another 20-30m thick clay layers
occurs at around 150m depth, the thickness of which increases to 50-60m further
south. It is followed by alternating sequence of sand and clay layers down to a
depth of about 300m.
In the delta and flood plains due to attenuation of intervening clay layers, the group
of aquifers at depth gets interconnected at some places giving avenues for polluted
groundwater to travel at deeper depths.

CHAPTER 6: ARSENIC CYCLE

Arsenic Cycle is the process by which natural and man-made arsenic from
their sources gets absorbed in ground water through several mediums like
rain clouds formed by the steams of volcanoes containing natural arsenic,
carries arsenic in the form of rain which further gets absorbed by ponds
,lakes and other water bodies and which further gets mixed with the
ground water. Now the trees and bacteria absorb the water soluble arsenic
present in ground water and is further found in the fruits, pesticides etc.
Overall the arsenic is cycled to human body by this process causing
several diseases.

FIG.1
Arsenic Cycle

LIST OF TABLES:
1) Table-1: Present Groundwater Arsenic Contamination
Status of West Bengal, India.
2) Table-2: Limit your exposure.

REFERENCES:

Journal: Arsenic Contamination in Groundwater: A Global Perspective with

Emphasis on the Asian Scenario: Amitava Mukherjee', Mrinal Kumar Sengupta', M.
Amir Hossain', Sad Ahamed , Bhaskar Das, Bishwajit Nayak, Dilip Lodh Mohammad.

http://www.soesju.org/arsenic/wb1.htm.
CHAPTER 17 Global Cycling of Arsenic by D. C. CHILVERSAND,P. J.
PETERSON.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arsenic_contamination_of_groundwater.
Images taken from: asxban.com,mrgss.blogspot.com

Abstract
A review of the occurrence and cycling of arsenic in fresh waters is presented. The
fate of arsenic in natural waters has received little attention in past years, in spite of
the fact that arsenic is toxic and probably carcinogenic through exposure by drinking
water.
The chemistry of arsenic in aqueous systems is reviewed. Mechanisms for removal
of arsenic from the solution phase to the sediments are discussed. The possible
microbially-mediated reactions of arsenic, including oxidation of arsenite,
methylation of arsenic species, and reduction of arsenate, are discussed with
reference to the locale of the reaction in the water column or in the sediments and to
the toxicological significance of the reaction products and the rates of reaction.
A cycle of reactions for arsenic in a stratified lake is proposed and evidence is
summarized relating to the occurrence and importance of particular reactions.
The potential pollutional hazard of arsenic is from ingestion of drinking water with
high concentrations of arsenic, rather than consuming arsenic containing aquatic
organisms. Although arsenic is greatly concentrated in aquatic organisms, it is
evidently not progressively concentrated along a food chain. In addition, arsenic
when consumed as an organically-bound species in flesh evidently has low toxicity.
The global cycle of arsenic is discussed. While volcanic activity is the original
source of much of the arsenic in sedimentary rocks, in recent times weathering of
arsenic has been approximately in balance with deposition of arsenic in sediments.
Human activities, including the use of arsenic, the burning of fossil fuels, increased
erosion of land and the mining and processing of sulfide minerals, have increased
the amount of arsenic entering the oceans by at least a factor of 3. This increase will
have no effect on the concentration in the oceans for many hundreds of years.
However, these cultural contributions are the source of high localized concentrations
in many fresh waters. Careful surveillance and increased knowledge of the fate or
arsenic in the aquatic environment are needed to insure that there will be no public
health hazard.

CHAPTER 7: OVERALL CONTAMINATION SITUTATION IN WEST BENGAL

According to the latest available data, Dr.Chakraborty analyzed 1,40,150
hand tubewell water samples for arsenic in all 19 districts covering 241 of
341 total blocks from West Bengal India. Table I shows an overview of
arsenic contamination situation of West Bengal upto December 2005.
Study shows the distribution of tubewells from each of the 19 districts of
West Bengal. Out of 1,40,150 samples analyzed, 48.1% had arsenic above
10g/L (the WHO guide line value) and 23.8% above 50g/L (the Indian
standard value). Importantly, 3.3% of the analyzed tubewells had arsenic
concentrations above 300g/L (the concentration predicting overt
arsenical skin lesions (Rahman et al, 2001). A total of 187 (0.13%) hand
tube-wells were highly contaminated (>1000 g/L). The maximum
arsenic concentration (3700 g/L) was found in Ramnagar village of GP
Ramnagar II, Baruipur block, in South 24 Parganas district. This tubewell
was a private one and all the nine members of the owners family had
arsenical skin lesions and seven of them who had severe arsenical skin
lesions, had already died, five of them died within age range below 30
years.
Table-1: Present Groundwater Arsenic Contamination Status of West Bengal, India

Physical Parameters

West Bengal

Area in sq. km.

88,750

Population in million

80.2

Total number of districts (no. of district surveyed)

19 (19)

Total number of water samples analyzed

1,40,150

% of samples having arsenic > 10 g L-1

48.1

% of samples having arsenic > 50 g L-1

23.8

No. of severely arsenic affected districts *

No. of mildly arsenic affected districts*

No. of arsenic safe districts*

Total population of severely arsenic affected 9 districts in million 50.4

Total area of severely arsenic affected 9 districts in sq. km.

38,861

Total number of blocks/ police station

341

Total number of blocks/ police station surveyed

241

Number of blocks / police station having arsenic >50mgL-1

111

Number of blocks / police station having arsenic >10mgL-1

148

Total number of village

37910

Total number of village surveyed

7823

Number of villages/paras having arsenic above 50 gL-1

3417

People at risk of drinking arsenic contaminated water >10 mgL-

9.5

(in million)

People at risk of drinking arsenic contaminated water >50 mgL1

4.6

(in million)

No. of districts surveyed for arsenic patients

No. of districts where arsenic patients found

Villages surveyed for arsenic patients

602

Number of villages where we have identified people with

488

arsenical skin lesions

People screened for arsenic patients including children

96,000

(preliminary survey)
No. of adults screened for arsenic patient

82,000

Number of registered patients with clinical manifestations

9,356 (9.7%)

No. of children screened for arsenic patient

14,000

No. of children showing arsenical manifestation

778 (5.6%)

Total hair, nail, urine analyzed

39624

Arsenic above normal/toxic level in hair, nail and urine samples

91%, 97% and

92%

GROUNDWATER ARSENIC CONTAMINATION IN WEST BENGAL - INDIA (20 years

study)
Reported work done by SOES

FIG.2

CHAPTER 8: CONTAMINATION SITUATION IN KOLKATA

Reported work done by SOES

Groundwater arsenic contamination status of Kolkata district (southern
part of Kolkata), one of the nine arsenic affected districts of West BengalIndia
Location and Demography
Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal (erstwhile known as Calcutta) is
located in the eastern part of India at 22028 N to 2203730 N and
88017 30 E to 88025 E. It has spread linearly along the banks of the
river Hoogly, is at present the largest urban city [area 185 sq. km and
night time population 4.6 million] of eastern India.. For administrative
purpose it is divided into 141 wards.
Arsenic contamination status in groundwater of Kolkata District
We have analyzed --- hand pump tubewell water samples for arsenic from
--- wards. ---percent of the samples exceed the WHO guideline value (10
g/L) while ---% of the samples exceed the Indian standard (50 g/L).
The maximum arsenic concentration (825g/L) was recorded in Lake
Gardens area of ward no 93 (Table). We found arsenic contamination
above 10g/L in --wards and above 50g/L in -- wards.

Groundwater arsenic situation in Kolkata district

FIG.3

CHAPTER 9: EFFECTS OF ARSENIC CONSUMPTION

Exposure to inorganic arsenic can cause various health effects, such as
irritation of the stomach and intestines, decreased production of red and
white blood cells, skin changes and lung irritation.
It is suggested that the uptake of significant amounts of inorganic
arsenic can intensify the chances of cancer development, especially the
chances of development of skin cancer, lung cancer, liver cancer and
lymphatic cancer.
A very high exposure to inorganic arsenic can cause infertility and
miscarriages with women, and it can cause skin disturbances, declined
resistance to infections, heart disruptions and brain damage with both men
and women.
Finally, inorganic arsenic can damage DNA.
A lethal dose of arsenic oxide is generally regarded as 100 mg.
Organic arsenic can cause neither cancer, nor DNA damage. But
exposure to high doses may cause certain effects to human health,
such as nerve injury and stomachaches

FIG.4
DISEASE CAUSED BY ARSENIC CONSUMPTION

CHAPTER 10: ARSENIC LEVEL IN COMMON FOODS

Arsenic may be present in many foods including grains, fruits, and
vegetables where it is present due to absorption through the soil and water.
While most crops dont readily take up much arsenic from the ground,
rice is different because it takes up arsenic from soil and water more
readily than other grains. In addition, some seafood has high levels of less
toxic organic arsenic.

FIG.5

CHAPTER 11: LIMITING EXPOSURE TO ARSENIC

Consumer Reports published results of their tests of 88 samples of apple and grape
juices. Nine samples had more arsenic than the federal government allows in
drinking water
In a separate analysis of government nutrition data, researchers commissioned
by Consumer Reports also found that Americans who reported drinking apple or
grape juice had arsenic levels in their urine that were 20% higher than people who
didnt drink those juices.
Similarly, researchers at Dartmouth Medical School found that pregnant women
who reported eating rice had higher levels of arsenic in their urine than women who
didnt eat rice.
Eating just half a cup of rice a day, the researchers reported, could expose someone
to just as much arsenic as if they had been drinking water at the governments
maximum allowable limit.
Should you be worried about being exposed to arsenic in food? WebMD consulted
experts who study arsenic to answer your questions.

Table: 2

CHAPTER 12: CONTROL MEASURES

Reverse Osmosis Systems
The most cost-effective method for removing arsenic from a
private water supply appears to be reverse osmosis, commonly
called RO. RO can be thought of as filtration at a molecular level.
It works by forcing water through a special, selective membrane.
The membrane has microscopic pores that are specially sized to
allow water molecules through, while trapping larger inorganic
molecules like lead, iron, chromium and arsenic.
Anionic Exchange Systems
Anionic exchange systems use a physical/chemical process to
exchange ions between a resin bed and water passing through.
These systems soften water, remove iron and manganese, and
lower nitrate and arsenic levels. These systems work by passing
water through the resin bed, which is charged with chloride ions
from dissolved salt. Arsenic molecules in the water replace these
chloride ions by knocking them off and taking their place. This
process continues until all of the sites on the resin are full. The
resin is then backwashed with water that is super-saturated with
dissolved salt. The chlorine ions in this backwash water strip the
embedded arsenic molecules out of the resin and into the
backwash wastewater.
Iron Oxide Filter Systems
Iron oxide filters are a relatively new and promising method for
lowering arsenic levels in private drinking water systems. Like
activated carbon, these granular filters have large amounts of

surface area and an affinity for arsenic to adhere to its surface.

Although these filters are fairly new to the home treatment
market, the principals behind them have been used by public
water suppliers for many years.
Iron oxide media can be housed in small inline filter cartridges
(point-of-use) or in larger tanks like the ones used for ion
exchange systems (point-of-entry). These filters can be used to
enhance the performance of reverse osmosis systems that are not
effectively removing As (III). The media can be disposed of as
non-hazardous waste.

LIST OF FIGURES:
1) Arsenic Cycle.
2) Ground water arsenic contamination situation
in West Bengal.
3) Ground water arsenic situation in Kolkata
district.
4) Disease caused by Arsenic consumption.
5) Arsenic Levels in common foods