Rising Sea Levels Increase Threat of Arsenic in Drinking Water, Study Says
Sea level rise can increase even modest levels of arsenic in groundwater due to a phenomenon known as saltwater intrusion, according to a study in PLOS ONE.
Disaster-affected residents wait in floodwater to receive relief items in Sylhet, Bangladesh, in June 2022.
Photographer: Anik Rahman/BloombergRising seas due to climate change could exacerbate the threat of arsenic in drinking water, according to a study published in PLOS ONE in January. Researchers focused on arsenic in well water in Bangladesh, where up to 97% of the population relies on such water for drinking.
Arsenic occurs naturally in the earth’s crust, but how much arsenic is present in groundwater depends on geology, fertilizer habits and land use patterns, among other factors. (Industrial activities like tanning leather release arsenic, for example.) The researchers determined that sea level rise can increase even modest levels of arsenic due to a phenomenon known as saltwater intrusion.