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The chemical contamination of water supplies in our region is a serious public health crisis. Arsenic and fluoride are closely linked to dental fluorosis, crippling skeletal fluorosis, chronic kidney disease, skin disease, and various cancers. Children are at greatest risk, as their growing bodies absorb these minerals at a much higher rate, and exposure to high fluoride during childhood has shown to have severe impacts on children’s cognitive development and learning ability later in life. However, lack of adequate water monitoring means the problem has remained largely unknown and therefore, untreatable.
Beyond polluting groundwater, overexploitation is causing more and more wells to dry up, leaving entire communities with no water at all. Residents are forced to fetch water from alternative sources that are often unreliable, expensive, or unsafe, putting their physical and economic wellbeing at risk—especially for women who are usually responsible for collecting water.
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