Bangladesh Energy Commission found the level of arsenic at between 1.5 and 2 ppm in tube well waters in districts bordering with West Bengal of India. The situation is so worsening that even dangerous level of arsenic toxicity was found in the water of a tube well of Bangladesh Health Minister Salauddin Yusuf's village home in Khulna. This tube well has already been sealed by the district Public Health Engineering Department. The number of arsenic poisoned tube wells is on the rise creating a panic across this rural belt. The result of their investigation shows that the number of arsenic affected people is horrifying.
Public health is in jeopardy in areas where arsenic poisoning is extensive.
DCH conducted its research on arsenic poisoning among residents in four villages under Ishurdi thana of Pabna district, eight villages and legalities of Kushtia district and one village of Meherpur district. Water samples collected from the arsenic infected areas of the country contained more than normal percentage of arsenic. Twenty per cent of water samples contained arsenic which is 100 to 900 per cent more than the allowable quantity. Dhaka Community Hospital screened 920 patients suffering from skin diseases of whom 150 were suspected to have been suffering from arsenic poisoning. Samples of urine, nails, hair and skin were collected from 95 of those 105 patients.