Overview
- The JAMA analysis followed 10,977 adults in Araihazar, Bangladesh, from 2002 to 2022 with repeated urine testing and cause-of-death tracking.
- Arsenic concentrations in local wells fell by about 70 percent over the period, while participants’ urinary arsenic levels dropped by roughly 50 percent on average.
- Participants whose exposure shifted from high to low had a 54 percent lower risk of death from chronic disease, including 57 percent for heart disease and 49 percent for cancer.
- Those who reduced urinary arsenic to low levels had mortality rates comparable to peers with consistently low exposure, while persistent high exposure showed no benefit.
- Mitigation relied on testing and labeling more than 10,000 wells and encouraging switches to safer sources, with researchers now piloting the NOLKUP app and working with the Bangladeshi government to target interventions.