Screening report in areas of endemic arsenism and high content of arsenic in China

Objective To investigate the basic distribution pattern of drinking water endemic arsenism in China, thus to offer a scientific basis for disease study and prevention. Methods According to the demand of "the implementation scheme of distribution of China endemic arsenism", both sampling survey and overall survey were used. The amount of water arsenic was determined by half-quantitative fast reagent-box method. Results Drinking water endemic arsenism distributed in 11 provinces and 141counties. In 51counties, the drinking water arsenic content outnumbered 0.05 mg/L. In 208 830 water wells screened, the detected rate of high arsenic content (more than 0.05 mg/L) was 2.69%, with the highest in Inner Mongolia 8.05%, the lowest in Heilongjiang Province 0.09%. Conclusions Endemic arsenism in western areas spreads widely and prevails seriously; therefore, the emphasis of endemic arsenism prevention and control should be put in western areas.