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Joan Stephenson, PhD

JAMA. 2002;288:1708.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

Many of the millions of people in Bangladesh who are being poisoned by arsenic-tainted well water could be spared by simply using water from nearby uncontaminated wells, according to a study by researchers from Bangladesh and the United States.

While only about half of the nearly 5000 wells in the Araihazar district met Bangladesh standards for drinking water, 88% of people with tainted wells lived within 100 m of a safe well, and 95% within 200 m, the researchers discovered. While simple in theory, however, there are potential social barriers to achieving wide-scale well switching. Most wells are privately owned, and women are discouraged from venturing unaccompanied beyond their bari, or cluster of related households.

But the practice could offer a short-term option that could save millions from arsenic-related cancers and other ills making the option worth exploring. "Our findings indicate that well-switching should figure more . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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