Environmental Irony: Summoning Death in Bangladesh

Peter Atkins, Manzurul Hassan and Christine Dunn
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Peter Atkins: Department of Geography, University of Durham, Durham DH1 3LE, England
Manzurul Hassan: Department of Geography and Environment, Jahangirnagar University, Savar, Dhaka 1342, Bangladesh
Christine Dunn: Department of Geography, University of Durham, Durham DH1 3LE, England

Environment and Planning A, 2007, vol. 39, issue 11, 2699-2714

Abstract: The arsenic crisis that affects at least thirty million water consumers in Bangladesh has been called the world's greatest ever environmental health disaster. Although the problem and the potential solutions have been presented confidently in the media, the argument of this paper is that, ironically, very little of the science or the technology is certain. From the spatial and depth variabilities of contamination, through safety thresholds, to the accuracy of field testing kits, we find indeterminacy. We argue that rather than shying away from such uncertainty, however, mitigation policies must acknowledge and embrace it if any real progress is to be made.

Date: 2007
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:envira:v:39:y:2007:i:11:p:2699-2714

DOI: 10.1068/a38123

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