Overview
- Researchers tracked 10,977 adults in Araihazar from 2002 to 2022, testing more than 10,000 wells and repeatedly measuring urinary arsenic to assess exposure over time.
- Participants whose arsenic exposure dropped had a 54% lower risk of death from any chronic disease, including 57% lower for cardiovascular disease and 49% lower for cancer.
- Average arsenic concentrations in drinking wells fell about 70% during mitigation efforts, while urinary arsenic declined about 50%, indicating sustained reductions in internal dose.
- People whose urinary arsenic moved from high to low had mortality rates comparable to those consistently at low exposure, whereas those with persistently high exposure saw no risk reduction.
- The team is advancing interventions such as labeling unsafe wells, drilling deeper safer wells, and piloting the NOLKUP data app, targeting hotspots in Bangladesh where about 50 million exceed WHO guidelines and informing action in places like the U.S. with widespread private well use.