None showed any methylarsonic or dimethylarsenic acid. Water is one of the major means of transport of arsenic in the environment. Arsenic in the aquatic environment is predominant in places with high geo-thermal activity. Soil erosion and agricultural run-offs are also large contributors to the arsenic concentration in sediments. High arsenic levels have been reported to be associated with sediments and a potential exists that it may be released in hazardous amounts to the overlying waters.
Industrial effluents are also a major source of arsenic to the environment.
It finds an application in the manufacture of herbicides and pesticides. Over 7000 people were consuming the arsenic contaminated water for several years but this fact remained unnoticed until September 1989. A few died and some of the victims were hospitalised while symptoms of arsenic poisoning were evident in many families living in the area. As arsenic is a cause for skin, liver, lung and kidney or bladder cancer, it is a big headache for the nation. Due to this carcinogenicity of some arsenic compounds, the objective should now be to reduce exposure to arsenic contaminated water to a level as close to zero as possible, taking into consideration its health effects and toxicology, occurrence and human exposure, availability and cost of treatment technology, the practical quantitation limit of arsenic normally found in drinking water.