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Human exposure to arsenic from groundwater in the Red River and Mekong River Deltas in Vietnam

2009; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 66; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/00207230902759962

1029-0400

Tetsuro Agusa, Suguru Inoue, Takashi Kunito, Tu Binh Minh, Nguyễn Ngọc Hà, Nguyễn Phúc Cẩm Tú, Pham Thi Kim Trang, Hisato Iwata, Pham Hung Viet, Bui Cach Tuyen, Shinsuke Tanabe,

Heavy metals in environment

Abstract Groundwater contamination by arsenic is a serious environmental problem in the world. Yet there have been few studies conducted in Southeast Asian countries. This article surveys arsenic contamination in groundwater and residents from Vietnam, and is based on our previous studies. Samples of groundwater (n = 118), human hair (n = 59), and urine (n = 100) were collected in the Red River and Mekong River Deltas during 2001–2004. Arsenic was detected in most of the groundwater samples, and its level ranged from <0.1 to 486 µg/l. Elevated concentrations of arsenic were observed in groundwater at some locations in Ha Nam (up to 486 µg/l) in the Red River Delta and Dong Thap (up to 411 µg/l) in the Mekong River Delta. Remarkably, about 33% of these groundwater samples exceeded the WHO drinking water guideline of 10 µg/l. These results suggest that arsenic contamination in groundwater may be widely present in both the Red River and Mekong River Deltas, Vietnam. A significant positive correlation was observed between arsenic concentrations in groundwater and human hair. Arsenic speciation of human urine revealed the presence of inorganic arsenic, and these concentrations positively correlated with arsenic levels in groundwater. Thus, it is likely that residents in our study areas are chronically exposed to arsenic through drinking groundwater, suggesting that there is a health risk from arsenic in Vietnam. Keywords: ArsenicGroundwaterHumanMekong River DeltaRed River DeltaVietnam Acknowledgements We are grateful to Dr A. Subramanian, CMES, Ehime University, Japan for critical reading of the manuscript. The authors wish to thank the staff of the Center for Environmental Technology and Sustainable Development (CETASD), Hanoi National University, Hanoi and Nong Lam University, Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam, and Mr M. Muraoka in the CMES, Ehime University, Japan for sample collection. We also acknowledge support from Ms N. Tsunehiro and Mr M. Kunimoto, staff in es‐BANK at CMES, Ehime University, Japan with regard to sample management. This study was mainly supported by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) for the cooperative research program under the Core University Program between JSPS and Vietnamese Academy of Science and Technology, and by a Grant from Research Revolution 2002 (RR2002) Project for Sustainable Coexistence of Human, Nature and the Earth (FY2002). Financial assistance was also provided by Grants‐in‐Aid for Scientific Research (S) (No. 20221003) from JSPS, for 21st century from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), Japan, and for global COE Programs from JSPS. The award of the JSPS Postdoctoral Fellowship for Researchers in Japan to T. Agusa (No. 207871) is also acknowledged.