SHORT REPORT: ARSENIC CONTAMINATION IN DRINKING WATER AND SKIN MANIFESTATIONS IN LOWLAND NEPAL: THE FIRST COMMUNITY-BASED SURVEY

A community-based, dose-response study on arsenic contamination was conducted in three communities in Terai in lowland Nepal. The arsenic concentration of all the tube wells in use (n 146) and the prevalence of arsenic-induced skin manifestation among 1,343 (approximately 80% of the inhabitants) subjects indicated the existence of a highly contaminated area in Terai. It was found that overall prevalence of arsenicosis among the subjects 15 years old was 6.9%, which was comparable to those found by the same examiner in arsenic-contaminated areas in Bangladesh, and that males had prevalence a twice as high as females, which could not be explained by the difference in the exposure level.