Charts showing frequency distribution of the arsenic concentration for the respective nominal kit categories for the paired dataset.
Frequency distribution (orange bars) of the arsenic concentration (x-axis) for the respective nominal kit categories for the paired dataset with 943 measurements. The red line is the best fit parametric distribution to the data for each kit categories. The placards posted on well based on the kit categories are also shown in each panel. Wells with blue and green placards are considered as uncontaminated and wells with red placards are considered as contaminated. Credit: Jameel et al. [2021], Figure 4
Editors’ Highlights are summaries of recent papers by AGU’s journal editors.
Source: GeoHealth

The ability to monitor the arsenic contamination of drinking water wells in Bangladesh is limited due to the very large number of wells (about one million new wells are installed every year) and the high cost of laboratory tests. Jameel et al. [2021] investigated the validity of using field kits as an alternative solution to predict the safe levels of arsenic exposure through comparing dataset pairs of laboratory and field kits tests. Their study found that while the field kits are less accurate, they still provide an acceptable prediction for arsenic contamination and thus can play an important role in the affords of the authorities to reduce arsenic exposure from drinking water in Bangladesh.

Citation: Jameel, Y., Mozumder, M. R. H., van Geen, A., & Harvey, C. F. [2021]. Well-switching to reduce arsenic exposure in Bangladesh: Making the most of inaccurate field kit measurements. GeoHealth, 5, e2021GH000464. https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GH000464

—Avner Vengosh, Editor, GeoHealth 

Text © 2022. The authors. CC BY-NC-ND 3.0
Except where otherwise noted, images are subject to copyright. Any reuse without express permission from the copyright owner is prohibited.