EA - Shallow Investigation: Arsenic Remediation by Francis

Link to original articleWelcome to The Nonlinear Library, where we use Text-to-Speech software to convert the best writing from the Rationalist and EA communities into audio. This is: Shallow Investigation: Arsenic Remediation, published by Francis on January 10, 2023 on The Effective Altruism Forum.Arsenic: A toxicant worth thinking more aboutThis report summarizes a shallow investigation into the effects of arsenic on global health and wellbeing, interventions to reduce these effects, and existing programs in this space. I estimate that this report is the result of roughly 50 hours of research and writing. This report was produced as part of Cause Innovation Bootcamp’s fellowship program.SummaryArsenic is a toxicant that contaminates drinking water and other groundwater in some countries. This contamination typically results from groundwater flowing through soil and mineral deposits that contain arsenic in the right conditions to be soluble, but human activities can also lead to arsenic contamination in some cases. Approximately 300 million people live in areas where the groundwater is contaminated by arsenic to a degree that exceeds the World Health Organization Standard of 10 μg/L, and approximately 100 million of those people are exposed to arsenic levels in drinking water of more than 50 μg/L. It is associated with a variety of negative health outcomes and other effects, resulting in higher mortality rates, cognitive damage, and lower lifetime incomes. Although Bangladesh has the most well-known and severe rate of arsenic contamination, groundwater arsenic affects many countries, and arsenic interventions outside of Bangladesh are relatively neglected.This report investigates various possible arsenic interventions. The lower bound for cost-per-death-averted was $630; limiting only to interventions that are backed by field studies, the lower bound for cost-per-death-averted was $774. Various factors, primarily uncertainty about the degree of harmful effects from arsenic, may reduce the overall cost-effectiveness, but arsenic interventions nonetheless have the potential to be promising, with the potential to compete with GiveWell top charities.Introduction and Scope of the ProblemHuman exposure to arsenic primarily results from groundwater contamination. Inorganic arsenic contamination in groundwater can lead to human exposure in three main ways: drinking contaminated water, using contaminated water for cooking, and using contaminated water to irrigate crops. The primary negative health effects of arsenic are increased risk of cancer and cardiovascular disease (including heart attacks), but other adverse effects include a higher risk of skin lesions, diabetes, pulmonary disease, stroke, cognitive deficits (in the case of prenatal and early childhood exposure), and (in some circumstances) Blackfoot disease.As of 2021, an estimated 300 million people worldwide live in areas with groundwater contaminated by arsenic (more than 10 μg/L), with approximately 100 million of those people living in areas with groundwater arsenic levels of more than 50 μg/L, which has been linked to an especially high likelihood of severe health consequences. According to the World Health Organization, several countries have been found to have a high level of arsenic in groundwater, including Argentina, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Chile, China, India, Mexico, Pakistan, the United States of America, and Vietnam. Arsenic exposure is particularly common in Bangladesh, where the number of people exposed to arsenic in groundwater has been estimated at 35 million - 77 million. More recent estimates from 2012 indicate that remediation efforts have reduced this number to 19 million people exposed to arsenic levels greater than 50 μg/L, and it is likely that this number has continued to decline since 2012.Arsenic contamination around the world.Various studies have attempted to determine the effects of arsenic exposure on overall mortality. A ten-year cohort study in Banglades...