Evaluating Strategies to Reduce Arsenic Poisoning in South Asia: A View from the Social Sciences
The World Health Organization has labeled the problem of arsenic contamination of groundwater in South Asia as “the largest mass poisoning in human history.” Various technical solutions to the problem fall into one of two broad categories: (i) cleaning contaminated water before human consumption and...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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World Scientific Publishing
2020-09-01
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| Series: | Asian Development Review |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.worldscientific.com/doi/10.1162/adev_a_00148 |
| _version_ | 1797829096245297152 |
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| author | Matthew Krupoff Ahmed Mushfiq Mobarak Alexander van Geen |
| author_facet | Matthew Krupoff Ahmed Mushfiq Mobarak Alexander van Geen |
| author_sort | Matthew Krupoff |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The World Health Organization has labeled the problem of arsenic contamination of groundwater in South Asia as “the largest mass poisoning in human history.” Various technical solutions to the problem fall into one of two broad categories: (i) cleaning contaminated water before human consumption and (ii) encouraging people to switch to less contaminated water sources. In this paper, we review research on the behavioral, social, political, and economic factors that determine the field-level effectiveness of the suite of technical solutions and the complexities that arise when scaling such solutions to reach large numbers of people. We highlight the conceptual links between arsenic-mitigation policy interventions and other development projects in Bangladesh and elsewhere, as analyzed by development economists, that can shed light on the key social and behavioral mechanisms at play. We conclude by identifying the most promising policy interventions to counter the arsenic crisis in Bangladesh. We support a national well-testing program combined with interventions that address the key market failures (affordability, coordination failures, and elite and political capture of public funds) that currently prevent more deep-well construction in Bangladesh. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-09T13:15:57Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-be974b57cd6f453aa71fff4820d503f2 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0116-1105 1996-7241 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-09T13:15:57Z |
| publishDate | 2020-09-01 |
| publisher | World Scientific Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Asian Development Review |
| spelling | doaj.art-be974b57cd6f453aa71fff4820d503f22023-05-12T00:59:14ZengWorld Scientific PublishingAsian Development Review0116-11051996-72412020-09-01372214410.1162/adev_a_00148Evaluating Strategies to Reduce Arsenic Poisoning in South Asia: A View from the Social SciencesMatthew Krupoff0Ahmed Mushfiq Mobarak1Alexander van Geen2Yale University, Yale Research Initiative on Innovation and Scale (Y-RISE), United StatesYale University, Y-RISE, United StatesColumbia University, United StatesThe World Health Organization has labeled the problem of arsenic contamination of groundwater in South Asia as “the largest mass poisoning in human history.” Various technical solutions to the problem fall into one of two broad categories: (i) cleaning contaminated water before human consumption and (ii) encouraging people to switch to less contaminated water sources. In this paper, we review research on the behavioral, social, political, and economic factors that determine the field-level effectiveness of the suite of technical solutions and the complexities that arise when scaling such solutions to reach large numbers of people. We highlight the conceptual links between arsenic-mitigation policy interventions and other development projects in Bangladesh and elsewhere, as analyzed by development economists, that can shed light on the key social and behavioral mechanisms at play. We conclude by identifying the most promising policy interventions to counter the arsenic crisis in Bangladesh. We support a national well-testing program combined with interventions that address the key market failures (affordability, coordination failures, and elite and political capture of public funds) that currently prevent more deep-well construction in Bangladesh.https://www.worldscientific.com/doi/10.1162/adev_a_00148arsenichealth behaviorwater quality |
| spellingShingle | Matthew Krupoff Ahmed Mushfiq Mobarak Alexander van Geen Evaluating Strategies to Reduce Arsenic Poisoning in South Asia: A View from the Social Sciences Asian Development Review arsenic health behavior water quality |
| title | Evaluating Strategies to Reduce Arsenic Poisoning in South Asia: A View from the Social Sciences |
| title_full | Evaluating Strategies to Reduce Arsenic Poisoning in South Asia: A View from the Social Sciences |
| title_fullStr | Evaluating Strategies to Reduce Arsenic Poisoning in South Asia: A View from the Social Sciences |
| title_full_unstemmed | Evaluating Strategies to Reduce Arsenic Poisoning in South Asia: A View from the Social Sciences |
| title_short | Evaluating Strategies to Reduce Arsenic Poisoning in South Asia: A View from the Social Sciences |
| title_sort | evaluating strategies to reduce arsenic poisoning in south asia a view from the social sciences |
| topic | arsenic health behavior water quality |
| url | https://www.worldscientific.com/doi/10.1162/adev_a_00148 |
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