Arsenic Toxicity Remediation: Biotechnological Approaches

Arsenic contamination in drinking water and associated adverse outcomes is one of the major health issues in more than 50 countries worldwide. The scenario is getting even more detrimental with increasing number of affected people and newer sites reported from all over the world. Apart from drinking water, the presence of arsenic has been found in various other dietary sources. Threatening the health of millions of people due to arsenic's toxicity and carcinogenicity, the major routes of arsenic exposure for humans are either through drinking water or crops. This edited volume brings together a diverse group of environmental science, sustainability, and health researchers to address the challenges posed by global mass poisoning caused by arsenic water contamination. The book sheds light on this global environmental issue and proposes solutions to aquatic contamination through multi-disciplinary sustainable approaches and case studies from different parts of world. This book addresses the problem of arsenic by pursuing a holistic approach. It presents the status quo in different parts of the world and provides essential information on food-related arsenic exposure risks for humans and possible preventive and curative measures for tackling arsenic poisoning. The mechanisms of arsenic uptake, translocation, and distribution in plants and grains are also explained. In closing, the book reviews a variety of prospective sustainable solutions to the problem of arsenic accumulation in soil and water.

The book comprises three sections. First section describes the routes of exposure to environmental arsenic and its transport in soil and aquatic ecosystems including its source and distribution in specific locations. Second section explains the health risks linked to arsenic exposure in food and the environment. Third section addresses sustainable arsenic contamination mitigation strategies using the potential applications of recent biotechnological techniques,