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Joan Stephenson, PhD

JAMA. 2004;292:794.

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

High levels of arsenic in large parts of the Ganges Delta have poisoned millions of people during the last 2 decades and the risk of contamination of drinking and irrigation water with arsenic continues to pose a threat to the lives of millions worldwide (Bull World Health Organ. 2000; 78:1093-1103). But the mechanisms underlying the release of arsenic from sediments into ground waters are poorly understood.

Now, scientists from England and India report evidence from laboratory studies that anaerobic iron-reducing bacteria (from a contaminated aquifer in India) thrive under conditions that favor the release of a toxic form of arsenic (Nature. 2004;430:68-71). Because the bacteria require organic carbon to grow, the researchers suggest that their findings support theories that the introduction of organic carbon through agricultural practices (such as irrigation) is a factor in mobilizing arsenic from sediment into the water supply. If . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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