Tracking down arsenic in drinking water AquAffirm's cheap,disposable test strips help communities steer clear of contaminated wells

摘要

On any given day,140 million people in 70 countries are drinking water that is contaminated with arsenic at levels above the World Health Organization safety threshold of 0μg/l.This makes the known carcinogen the most significant chemical contaminant in drinking water globally.The problem is particularly pressing in Bangladesh,where as many as 70 million people are affected and one in five deaths is attributed directly to arsenic contamination.Arsenic occurs naturally in groundwater,dissolving out of arsenic-containing minerals in the bedrock.The scale of the crisis makes Bangladesh the priority destination for spin-out company AquAffirm,which is about to introduce a rapid,easy-to-use test for arsenic contamination in water.