Consumer Reports on Arsenic in your Juice cites CU SRP Director
The upcoming January 2012 Consumer Reports Magazine cites Columbia's SRP Director Joseph Graziano in its article, "Arsenic in your juice: How much is too much? Federal limits do not exist". Dr. Graziano suggests a comprehensive approach to reducing exposures to arsenic: "We tackled every source (of lead), from gasoline to paint to solder in food cans, and we should be just as vigilant in preventing arsenic from entering our food and water because the consequences of exposure are enormous for adults as well as children." Please click here for the article. Test results for arsenic and lead in apple juice and grape juice are also available (pdf).
SRP selects Columbia Project to Highlight for Monthly Research Brief
The NIEHS SRP Research Brief #203: "Research Shows Arsenic Attaches to Sediments, Protects Human Health" is part of the Columbia SRP project on Mitigation of Arsenic Mobilization in Groundwater which Alexander van Geen heads. CU PhD graduate, Kathleen Radloff, led the team of scientists investigating a key research question: Could the use of deep-water wells cause arsenic-laden water from shallower aquifers to contaminate aquifers tapped by deeper wells? View/download pdf.
Columbia SRP paper in Nature Geoscience studies influence of adsorption and water demand on Arsenic migration to deep aquifers.
The Nature Geoscience paper, "Arsenic migration to deep groundwater in Bangladesh influenced by adsorption and water demand" is now released for advance online publication (9 October 2011). Kathleen Radloff, NIEHS 2009 Wetterhahn Award recipient and former Columbia SRP graduate student, is the lead author. Dr. Radloff is currently with Gradient Corporation in Cambridge, Ma. Other CU SRP authors include Yan Zheng, Martin Stute, Ben Bostick, Ivan Mihajlov, Peter Schlosser, and Alexander van Geen. Columbia's scientists worked closely on this study with their partners from Bangladesh, led by Dr. Kazi Matin Ahmed.
The paper focuses on whether deep aquifers are at risk of arsenic contamination due to high levels of arsenic in the groundwater above. The SRP-funded study injects arsenic-bearing groundwater into a deep aquifer in Bangladesh and monitors the reduction in arsenic levels over time following the withdrawal of the water. Within 24 hours, the level of arsenic was reduced by 70% in the deep aquifer zone, due to adsorption on sediments. Experimentally determined adsorption properties of sands in the deep aquifer zone and present and future scenarios of water demands were then incorporated in to a groundwater flow and transport model for the Bengal Basin by Dr. Holly Michael of the University of Delaware. Simulations show that arsenic adsorption significantly retards the transport, resulting in a lower risk of arsenic contamination in deep groundwater. The authors point out that some areas are still vulnerable to arsenic intrusion and should be monitored. To view/download the paper go online to Nature Geoscience, click here
Monday December 19th; Topics for this Columbia SRP seminar include: "Throwing the Baby out with the Drinking Water: Unintended Consequences of Arsenic Mitigation Efforts in Bangladesh" by Erica Field, Department of Economics (see paper), Duke University and "Arsenic and Cataracts" by Norman Kleiman, Environmental Health Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University. This seminar is accessible remotely, please see details. Comer Building, 1st floor conference room Columbia University Lamont Campus, 61 Route 9W, Palisades New York.
Complete list of Columbia SRP Seminars 
CU SRP Director Dr. Joseph Graziano presented a webinar for the Northeastern SRP on November 4th entitled, "Poison in the Well: Exposure, Consequences and Remediation of Arsenic in Bangladesh". Please click here to view. more...
Dates of Upcoming CU SRP Seminars/Webinars, 2011-2012 (pdf)
Maps and Data
NIEHS Superfund Research Program (SRP) Centers
Spatial variability of Arsenic concentrations in 6000 tube wells in Araihazar, Bangladesh
Data collected and mapped by Columbia SRP scientists, led by Dr. Alexander van Geen. For more information click here.
U.S. Population within Four-Mile Buffers of Superfund Sites
This map displays the 2000 US Census Grid Population data for residents within 4-mile buffers of NPL sites based on locations provided by EPA and ATSDR. For access to the data and the report generated for NIEHS, "Assessment of Populations in Proximity to Superfund National Priorities List Sites" please click here. To download the full-sized map, click here.
As part of the SRP child development project in Araihazar, Bangladesh, this cross-sectional study investigates the associations of manganese and arsenic in tube well water with classroom behavior among more than 200 elementary school children, 8–11 years of age. The study examines specificity in the exposure/behavior problems by assessing both externalizing and internalizing behavior. Its findings reinforce the growing concern regarding neurotoxicologic effects for children exposed to high manganese levels in drinking water.
- Khalid Khan, Pam Factor-Litvak, Gail A. Wasserman, Xinhua Liu, Ershad Ahmed, Faruque Parvez, Vesna Slavkovich, Diane Levy, Jacob Mey, Alexander van Geen, and Joseph H. Graziano. Manganese Exposure from Drinking Water and Children’s Classroom Behavior in Bangladesh. Enviromental Health Perspectives. Oct 2011; 119(10):1501-1506.
Dr. Alexander van Geen, CU SRP Associate Director, summarizes findings from the International Drilling to Recover Aquifer Sands (IDRAs) 2011 workshop in Hanoi, Vietnam. Scientists and student participants from fourteen countries provided inputs for a new continental drilling program focused on arsenic contamination of groundwater in Asia. Over 100 million rural inhabitants in Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, and Vietnam are at risk of major health problems from elevated groundwater arsenic.
- Alexander van Geen. International Drilling to Recover Aquifer Sands (IDRAs) and Arsenic Contaminated Groundwater in Asia. Scientific Drilling IODP/ICDP. September 2011, No. 12, pp 49-52. ISSN:1816-8957. doi:10.2204/iodp.sd.12.06.2011.
SRP scientists utilized data from the Health Effects of Arsenic Longitudinal Study in Araihazar, Bangladesh to conduct a novel evaluation of the incidence of skin lesions in relation to arsenic exposure, by measuring individual-level well water and urinary total arsenic concentrations as well as daily arsenic intake. Results show that arsenic exposure through drinking water was associated with increased risk of skin lesion incidence, even at water concentrations less than 100 micrograms per liter. The increased risk of skin lesions persisted among individuals who had reduced their arsenic exposure in recent years.
- Maria Argos, Tara Kalra, Brandon L. Pierce, Yu Chen, Tariqul Islam, Alauddin Ahmed, Emdadul H. Syed, Faruque Parvez, Joseph Graziano, Paul J. Rathouz, and Habibul Ahsan. A Prospective Study of Arsenic Exposure From Drinking Water and Incidence of Skin Lesions in Bangladesh Am. J. Epidemiol. (2011) kwr062 first published online May 16, 2011 doi:10.1093/aje/kwr062
Well-switching from a private shallow well with high levels of arsenic to a shallow well with low levels of arsenic is a very effective way for individuals in Bangladesh to reduce their exposure to arsenic. The question addressed here by SRP scientists is whether this type of arsenic mitigation might also lead to increased exposures to fecal contaminants.
- van Geen A, KM Ahmed, Y Akita, MJ Alam, PJ Culligan, J Feighery, A Ferguson, M Emch, V Escamilla, P Knappett, AC Layton, BJ Mailloux, LD McKay, JL Mey, ML Serre, PK Streatfield, J Wu, M Yunus. Fecal contamination of shallow tubewells in Bangladesh inversely related to arsenic. Environ Sci Technol 2011, 45 (4), pp 1199-1205; PMCID: PMC3037737.
