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Global threat of arsenic in groundwater.

  • Podgorski J Department of Water Resources and Drinking Water, Eawag, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, 8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland. joel.podgorski@eawag.ch michael.berg@eawag.ch.
  • Berg M Department of Water Resources and Drinking Water, Eawag, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, 8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland. joel.podgorski@eawag.ch michael.berg@eawag.ch.
  • 2020-05-23
Published in:
  • Science (New York, N.Y.). - 2020
Arsenic
Arsenic Poisoning
Climate Change
Drinking Water
Environmental Exposure
Groundwater
Humans
Machine Learning
Models, Theoretical
English Naturally occurring arsenic in groundwater affects millions of people worldwide. We created a global prediction map of groundwater arsenic exceeding 10 micrograms per liter using a random forest machine-learning model based on 11 geospatial environmental parameters and more than 50,000 aggregated data points of measured groundwater arsenic concentration. Our global prediction map includes known arsenic-affected areas and previously undocumented areas of concern. By combining the global arsenic prediction model with household groundwater-usage statistics, we estimate that 94 million to 220 million people are potentially exposed to high arsenic concentrations in groundwater, the vast majority (94%) being in Asia. Because groundwater is increasingly used to support growing populations and buffer against water scarcity due to changing climate, this work is important to raise awareness, identify areas for safe wells, and help prioritize testing.
Language
  • English
Open access status
green
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Persistent URL
https://sonar.ch/global/documents/17243
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