Arsenic exposure during pregnancy may be linked to drowning of children: Study

An icddr,b study has found a “significant” link between arsenic exposure during pregnancy and the drowning of one- to five-year-old children, though the linking mechanism remains unclear.

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 12 Nov 2015, 07:11 PM
Updated : 12 Nov 2015, 07:19 PM

The research organisation says the study was recently published in Global Health Action, an international peer-reviewed Open Access journal.

Scientists of the icddr,b and collaborators from BRAC and McMaster University, Canada, did the study at the icddr,b’s rural field site Matlab.

The project aimed establishing a possible link between arsenic exposure during pregnancy and an heightened mortality risk among young children.

The scientists analysed mortality data from children born to 11,414 pregnant women during 2002 to 2004, and screened over 13,000 functional tube-wells in the neighbourhood for arsenic contamination.

They followed the cohort until they were five years old.

The study, however, did not consider some other potential risk factors related to drowning, such as children being left unattended and unprotected bodies of water.

Previous studies had shown arsenic could pass through the placenta, affecting foetuses in the womb.

Besides, there is evidence to suggest arsenic can hinders cognitive development and motor function.

The researchers say that children exposed to arsenic in the womb could face increased drowning risks because of its effect on physical behaviour.

Over 35 million people in Bangladesh are at risk of being exposed to arsenic concentrations higher than the national standard and the World Health Organization guidelines.

According to a recent Bangladesh Health and Injury Survey, around 50 children die every day and 18,000 children every year due to drowning.

Most children who drown are between one and four years old (86.3 per 100,000), which is when they start to walking and are often left unattended.

Dr Mahfuzar Rahman, lead author on the study, and head of research and evaluation at BRAC and former icddr,b researcher said, “These findings are very important for designing and implementing future drowning prevention projects.

“The projected outcome may not be achieved if arsenic exposure in drinking water is not mitigated during pregnancy”.

Dr Mohammad Yunus, co-author and consultant on the study and former head of icddr,b’s Matlab health research centre, however, stressed “further epidemiological studies to determine the scale and magnitude of the association between arsenic exposure and drowning”.

They said there was a pressing need to reduce arsenic exposure in countries with high concentrations of arsenic in groundwater to prevent this serious public health threat.