Why Study a Rice Field in Bangladesh?
The shallow aquifer in Bangladesh, which provides drinking water for millions and irrigation water for numerable rice fields, is severely contaminated with naturally occurring arsenic. The arsenic exposure is poisoning millions of Bangladeshis and causing thousands to die each year from arsenic-induced cancers. My research group is trying to determine the causes of the high concentrations of arsenic in groundwater. Rice fields cover approximately 65% of the land area in our study area and water-balance calculations show that they contribute about half of the water that recharges the arsenic-contaminated aquifer every year. When I began my research, it was not clear what role rice fields play in the contamination problem. Rice fields can develop the chemical conditions needed to move arsenic off of the soil and into the water. (All soil, everywhere in the world, contains arsenic. Usually the arsenic remains associated with the soil and does not pose a health threat, but under certain ch