Arsenic poisons 220 000 in India

At least 220 000 inhabitants of India's West Bengal state have symptoms of arsenic poisoning, in what is being called the “biggest arsenic calamity in the world.” A report on arsenic toxicity resulting from groundwater contamination says that the number of people affected in the eastern Indian state is much higher than previously estimated.

The report (Current Science 1996;70:976-86), based on an eight year survey of the region, says that over one million people in 560 villages are consuming groundwater …