Reportedly, 300 million people worldwide are affected by the consumption of arsenic contaminated groundwater. India prominently figures amongst them and the state of Bihar has shown an upsurge in cases affected by arsenic poisoning. Escalated arsenic content in blood, leaves 1 in every 100 human being highly vulnerable to being affected by the disease. Uncontrolled intake may lead to skin, kidney, liver, bladder, or lung related cancer but even indirect forms of cancer are showing up on a regular basis with abnormal arsenic levels as the probable cause. But despite the apparent relation, the etiology has not been understood clearly. Blood samples of 2000 confirmed cancer patients were collected from pathology department of our institute. For cross-sectional design, 200 blood samples of subjects free from cancer from arsenic free pockets of Patna urban agglomeration, were collected. Blood arsenic levels in carcinoma patients as compared to sarcomas, lymphomas and leukemia were found to be higher. The geospatial map correlates the blood arsenic with cancer types and the demographic area of Gangetic plains. Most of the cancer patients with high blood arsenic concentration were from the districts near the river Ganges. The raised blood arsenic concentration in the 2000 cancer patients strongly correlates the relationship of arsenic with cancer especially the carcinoma type which is more vulnerable. The average arsenic concentration in blood of the cancer patients in the Gangetic plains denotes the significant role of arsenic which is present in endemic proportions. Thus, the study significantly correlates and advocates a strong relation of the deleterious element with the disease. It also underlines the need to address the problem by deciphering the root cause of the elevated cancer incidences in the Gangetic basin of Bihar and its association with arsenic poisoning.

Testing of groundwater used for drinking for arsenic has been undertaken more widely by state governments in several states of India in recent years with the support of UNICEF. Available data for five states are collated in this paper and this provides the most up-to-date picture of areas known to be affected by arsenic in groundwater in the Indian portion of the Ganges-Brahmaputra river basin. In West Bengal, water from 132,262 government installed handpumps in 8 districts has been tested and overall 25.5% of samples were found to contain arsenic at concentrations greater than 50 μ gL⁻¹ and 57.9% at concentrations greater than 10 μ gL⁻¹. On the banks of the Brahmaputra in Assam, to date, samples from 5,729 government handpump sources in 22 districts have been tested for arsenic. Overall, samples from 6.3% of sources were found to contain arsenic at concentrations greater than 50 μ gL⁻¹ and 26.1% at concentrations greater than 10 μ gL⁻¹. In Bihar, on the River Ganges upstream of West Bengal, 66,623 sources from 11 districts have been tested and water samples from 10.8% of sources were found to contain arsenic at concentrations greater than 50 μ gL⁻¹ and 28.9% at concentrations greater than 10 μ gL⁻¹. Upstream of Bihar in Uttar Pradesh, home of the Taj Mahal, to date water samples from 20,126 government-installed handpump sources have been tested. As a result 2.4% of the samples tested were found to contain arsenic at concentrations greater than 50 μ gL⁻¹ and 21.5% at concentrations greater than 10 μ gL⁻¹. Finally in one district of Jharkhand, lying on the Ganges alluvial plain between Bihar and West Bengal, 9,007 sources have been tested and water samples from 3.7% of sources were found to contain arsenic at concentrations greater than 50 μ gL⁻¹ and 7.5% at concentrations greater than 10 μ gL⁻¹. State governments have adopted different sampling strategies and these are described in this paper. Testing is ongoing in several states and the complete picture is yet to emerge in some areas.