Study of arsenic in drinking water and food in three different districts of Bihar, India

Arsenic contamination in groundwater is a serious and widespread global public health problem and India is one ofthe highly arsenic exposed countries with maximum impact in the Ganga Meghna Brahmaputra plains. A total of 18 districts out of 38 districts of the state of Bihar are highly affected with groundwater arsenic poisoning. In the present study, three arsenic affected districts were taken selected for survey. The study deals with the survey of the affected village in the district, with groundwater arsenic quantification with special attention to determine the concentration of arsenic in food material. The maximum arsenic contamination in water sample was 107.1 mu g L-1 in Saran while 1257 mu g kg(-1) in rice in Bhagalpur, 567.5 mu g kg(-1).