January 4, 2006	Wednesday	Zilhaj 3, 1426

KARACHI, Jan 3: Senior doctors said on Monday that serious health problems were being faced by people in Sukkur owing to consumption of water carrying arsenic content.

According to health circles, two members of a family, father and son, who were admitted to JPMC on Dec 9 were confirmed as “chronic arsenic poisoning” cases.

Two daughters and a son of the same family have also developed symptoms similar to their father and brother during the last two or three months, and have been shifted to Karachi.

The two victims of the arsenic mixed tube-well water are now bed-ridden, and are waiting for a curative process in Ward-6 of Medical Unit-2, though their chances of regaining a routine life are marginal, said a source.

Prof Tasnim Ahsan, chief of medical and allied disciplines at JPMC, told Dawn that there was an urgent need for surveying water samples and relevant samples from residents of the locality to know the actual risk to local population.

Other appropriate measures, including warning to the population not to consume ground water aquifers and use filters for a contamination-free water, be taken on priority, she added, saying the health secretaries of the federal and provincial governments have also been informed about the development.

The two patients were brought to JPMC by one of their relatives as local doctors failed to handle them. Both of them, carpenter by profession, were admitted with the history of progressive weakness and numbness of limbs for three months, which later involved the proximal limbs.

According to Prof Tahseen, initially she never come across patients having such symptoms who had no history of urinary or faecal incontinence, headache, visual problems, and memory loss or fits.

Now the father, 45, and son, 20, have lost nearly half of their weight and are bed-ridden due to weakness. They have greyish brown scaly lesions over palms and soles and hyper pigmentation of skin of the neck and abdomen.

However, after some study and after going through literature, the doctors decided to have some water samples from the source which remained in the use of the family and samples of urine, hair and nails of the two for laboratory tests.

After chemical analysis at two laboratories, including the PCSIR, it was revealed that the body and water samples contained a dangerously high level of arsenic.

The results revealed that the arsenic level was 1286.6 ug/l in water samples from the house of patients in Sukkur while the acceptable level is less than 50 ug/l.

Arsenic level in hair, urine, and nails of the two patients were also found much higher than normal.

The chest X-Ray showed fibrosis on upper chest, ultrasound showed altered texture of liver with hepatomegaly while pulmonary function tests showed restrictive pattern.

She said the diseases had been diagnosed and she was in search of certain organo-metallic compound for chelating.

Experts say arsenic occurs in the ground as part of soil and rock and in recent years it has been discovered in ground water in Canada, Thailand, Cambodia, China, Taiwan, Japan, Australia, Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh and some countries on the African continent.

A higher concentration may cause cancer in the gastrointestinal tract while 70-78 mg of arsenic may become an acute poison, severely affecting the central nervous system and the skin. It causes muscular weakness, loss of appetite and nausea leading to inflammation of the mucous membranes in the eye, nose and larynx; skin lesions may also occur, while neurological manifestation and even malignant tumour in vital organs may also be observed in patients.

A source in the health department said that officials having gone through Prof Tasnim’s report were also concerned over the situation and were asking the EDO Health concerned to visit the locality and ensure water sampling and testing at the earliest.

After establishing the reports of arsenic occurrence, the department will move other authorities, including the provincial health department for remedial measures.

The official could also go for having the tube-wells painted green or red for identification of contaminated or non-contaminated sources of drinking water, the source said.

According to UNICEF’s investigation conducted in 2001 in collaboration with government and private organizations, the occurrence of arsenic in ground water aquifers was confirmed from at least nine districts of the province.

Following the significant number of positive tests by UNICEF, which showed a high arsenic level in the water, the Sindh government about two a couple of years back had prepared a plan to address the situation, which could not see the light of the day due to bureaucratic lethargic.

After a process of repeated review of the work plan and availability of related fund, the government finally agreed to carry out extensive tests and taking measures in Sukkur, Dadu, Ghotki and Jacobabad, but that also could not be realized and the contaminated water started casting disastrous impact on human life as well.