Why is arsenic pollution present in Bangladesh?
Channel: Mo Hoque
Date: 18/11/2022

Groundwater in Asian deltas is polluted by naturally occurring arsenic, which poses a health risk to over 20% of the population in the region. Bangladesh is an example of a wide-spread problem in such a case. Here I share an excerpt of about 3 minutes' length explaining the reason behind the elevated arsenic in Bangladesh's groundwater.
Microbes are the catalysts for most reactions in the aquifer. Because of the relative abundance of iron and manganese in these aquifers, Fe(III) is a more abundant terminal electron acceptor. Most iron-reducing bacteria are capable of using several terminal acceptors and have the ability to grow under anaerobic conditions where the sole electron acceptor is either Fe (III) or Mn (IV). These Fe (III) oxides often contain adsorbed arsenic, which is released when reduced to iron (II).