BBC Learning English
Words in the News
22

nd

March 2010

Bangladesh water may still be unsafe

Words in the News

© British Broadcasting Corporation 2010

Page 1 of 2

bbclearningenglish.com

A new report by the UN and the Bangladesh government has found that 20 million

Bangladeshis could still be drinking unclean water. The report, marking World Water Day,

comes almost 20 years after the problem was first discovered. This report from Mark

Dummett:

The researchers found that arsenic continues to be a major threat to the good health of

millions of Bangladeshis, almost two decades after the problem was first detected, despite a

massive effort to provide safe drinking water.

They also found that rice, the country's staple food, can also contain potentially dangerous

levels of arsenic, if the crop is irrigated with contaminated water, as happens in several

parts of the country.

Ministers say that more research is needed on this and that people should not be alarmed.

Arsenic poisoning can cause cancers, heart and lung disease. It first became a problem in

Bangladesh in the 1970s after the UN dug millions of new tube wells. The water that these

wells tapped was contaminated with arsenic, and millions were affected in what the World

Health Organisation termed 'the greatest mass poisoning in history'.

Mark Dummett, BBC News, Dhaka

Words in the News

© British Broadcasting Corporation 2010

Page 2 of 2

bbclearningenglish.com

Vocabulary and definitions

arsenic

type of very strong poison which can kill people

major threat

serious danger

two decades

20 years (one decade is 10 years)

staple food

basic type of food eaten as part of most meals

potentially dangerous

possibly harmful

irrigated

supplied with water

contaminated

polluted, impure or harmful

alarmed

very worried that something bad will happen

tube wells

deep holes in the ground where water is taken from using

large pipes

mass poisoning

many people becoming ill from being exposed to

chemicals

More on this story:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/2886079.stm

Read and listen to the story and the vocabulary online:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/wordsinthenews/2010/03/100322_witn_arsenic.shtml