Arsenic induced toxicity and its remediation

The contamination of groundwater by arsenic is turning out to be a major health threat due to its world wide area of coverage and the number of people affected. In developing countries like India and Bangladesh, millions of people are suffering from arsenic-related diseases due to its prolonged ingestion. Contamination of groundwater with arsenic is very familiar, but the consequences of soil contamination are still not thoroughly studied. This review is mainly focused on arsenic contamination due to coal ash disposal and entry of arsenic in food chain due to use of arsenic contaminated water for irrigation. Comprehensive survey of the literature on arsenic toxicity is done and sources and distribution of arsenic, factors affecting availability of arsenic, effect of arsenic poisoning on living organisms and remediation technologies used for arsenic decontamination are being discussed in this review.