A Survey of Arsenic Level in Tube-Wells in Bam Province (Burkina Faso)

Touridomon Issa Somé¹, Abdoul Karim Sakira^1*, Alidou Kaboré¹, Aissata Traoré²

¹Laboratory of Toxicology, Environment and Health, Doctorate School of Health, University of Ouagadougou, Ouaga, Burkina Faso.
²Plan Burkina, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.

DOI: 10.4236/jep.2014.514134                

Abstract

Groundwater is a main source of water supply for populations in Burkina Faso where there is a serious problem for drinking water access. However, water quality has not been always followed regularly. Recent studies showed that more than 50% of drillings in Yatenga province (north of Burkina Faso) have an arsenic concentration above the recommended WHO requirement. Preliminaries studies conducted in Bam (Center North of Burkina Faso) showed high arsenic level in certain localities. This work presents for the first time data on a large scale evaluation that had been performed in all the localities of Bam province in other to have a better assessment of contamination scale. A total of 707 drilling water samples have been selected randomly in 9 communes and analysed for the arsenic level using atomic absorption spectrometry with hydride generation. The results showed that 11% of drillings have an arsenic concentration above the recommended WHO requirements with Rouko commune having the highest rate of high arsenic level (22%).

Keywords

Arsenic, Groundwater, Contamination, Bam Province

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

[1]	Schmoll, O., Howard, G., Chilton, J. and Chorus, I. (2006) Protecting Groundwater for Health: Managing the Quality of Drinking-Water Sources. World Health Organization, IWA Publishing, London.
[2]	Smith, H.S., Lingas, E.O. and Rahman, M.M. (2000) Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 78, 1093-1103.
[3]	Some, I.T., Sakira, A.K., Ouedraogo, M., Ouedraogo, T.Z., Guissou, I.P., Sondo, B. and Traore, A. (2012) Arsenic Levels in Tube-Wells Water, Food, Residents’ Urine and the Prevalence of Skin Lesions in Yatenga Province, Burkina Faso. Interdisciplinary Toxicology, 5, 101-104. http://dx.doi.org/10.2478/v10102-012-0007-4
[4]	WBWSP (World Bank Water and Sanitation Program) (2005) Towards a More Effective Operational Response to Arsenic Contamination of Groundwater in South and East Asian Countries. WBWSP, Washington DC.
[5]	Singh, A.P., Goel, R.K. and Kaur, T. (2011) Mechanisms Pertaining to Arsenic Toxicity. Toxicology International, 18, 87-93. http://dx.doi.org/10.4103/0971-6580.84258
[6]	Guha Mazumder, D.N. (2003) Chronic Arsenic Toxicity: Clinical Features, Epidemiology, and Treatment: Experience in West Bengal. Journal of Environmental Science and Health, Part A: Toxic/Hazardous Substances and Environmental Engineering, 38, 141-163. http://dx.doi.org/10.1081/ESE-120016886
[7]	Hughes, M.F., Beck, B.D., Yu, C., Lewis, A. and Thomas, D.J. (2011) Arsenic Exposure and Toxicology: A Historical Perspective. Toxicological Sciences, 123, 305-332. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/toxsci/kfr184
[8]	Smedley, P.L. and Kinniburgh, D.G. (2002) A Review of the Source, Behaviour and Distribution of Arsenic in Natural Waters. Applied Geochemistry, 17, 517-568. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0883-2927(02)00018-5
[9]	Smedley, P.L., Knudsen, J. and Maiga, D. (2007) Arsenic in Groundwater from Mineralised Proterozoic Basement Rocks of Burkina Faso. Applied Geochemistry, 22, 1074-1092. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeochem.2007.01.001
[10]	WHO (2004) Guidelines for Drinking-Water Quality. World Health Organization, Geneva.
[11]	Rahman, M.M., Sad Ahamed, K.S.M., Chowdhury, K.U., et al. (2005) Arsenic Contamination of Ground Water and Its Health Impact on Residents in a Village of in West Bengal, India. Bulletin of World Health Organization, 83, 49-57.
[12]	Ahsan, H., Chen, Y., Parvez, F., et al. (2006) Arsenic Exposure from Drinking Water and Risk of Premalignant Skin Lesions in Bangladesh: Baseline Results from the Health Effects of Arsenic Longitudinal Study. American Journal of Epidemiology, 163, 1138-1148. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/aje/kwj154