EXPOSURE AND HEALTH INEQUALITIES AND INEQUITIES OF ARSENIC-BEARING GROUNDWATER IN INDIA (Invited Presentation)

A recurring theme of studies of human exposure to arsenic in groundwater-derived drinking water is that the burden of exposure and of detrimental health outcomes arising from that exposure seems to be more marked for those from poorer socio-economic backgrounds and particularly for those from rural areas [1]. In India [2] and Spain [3] socioeconomic factors have been identified as being important in contributing to increased arsenic-attributable health risks [2]. Socio-economic variables have therefore been identified as potential major confounders in ecological studies of associations between exposure to arsenic and detrimental health outcomes [3,4].

Here, we report an exploration of the associations between socio-economic status/variables and exposure to and modelled health impacts arising from groundwater-derived arsenic in India. Secondary data obtained included: district-level probabilities of groundwater arsenic exceeding 10 µg/L [5,6], modelled groundwater arsenic attributable cardiovascular mortality risks [5] and socio-economic data, including rural and urban groundwater usage data, at state and district level [7]. Significant associations were found between all of hazard, exposure and modelled health impacts and a number of socioeconomic variables. The results may be of utility in better determining the role of such confounders in ecological-study-based dose-response relationships at drinking water arsenic concentrations close to the WHO provisional guide value. This work addresses UN Sustainable Development Goals 3, 6 and 10.

Acknowledgements: Newton Fund, NERC (UK) (NE/R003386/1) & DST (India) (DST/TM/INDO-UK/2K17/55(C) & 55(G)) for the Indo-UK FAR-GANGA project (www.farganga.org) LX acknowledges a University of Manchester President’s Doctoral Scholarship.

References: [1] Nigra et al (2020) Environ Health Persp, 128, 127001; [2] Sarkar (2009) Environ Justice, 2, 147; [3] Medrano et al (2010) Environ Res, 110, 448; [4] Xu et al (2020) Science Total Environ, 743, 140534; [5] Wu et al (2021) Water, 13, 2232; [6] Podgorski et al (2020) Int J Environ Res Public Health 17, 7119; [7] Government of India (2011) India Census 2011. Census Tables. https://censusindia.gov.in/census.website/data/census-tables Accessed July 2022.