Background:The global health impact and disease burden due to chronic arsenic toxicity has not been well studied in West Bengal.Objective:To ascertain these, a scientific epidemiological study was carried out in a district of the state.Materials and Methods:Epidemiological study was carried out by house-to-house survey of arsenic affected villages in the district of Nadia. A stratified multi-stage design has been adopted for this survey for the selection of the participants. A total number of 2297 households of 37 arsenic affected villages in all the 17 blocks were surveyed in the district.Result:Out of 10469 participants examined, prevalence rate of arsenicosis was found to be 15.43%. Out of 0.84 million people suspected to be exposed to arsenic, 0.14 million people are estimated to be suffering from arsenicosis in the district. Highest level of arsenic in drinking water sources was found to be 1362 μg/l, and in 23% cases it was above 100 μg/l. Majority of the population living in the arsenic affected villages were of low socio-economic condition, inadequate education and were farmers or doing physical labour. Chronic lung disease was found in 207 (12.81%) subjects among cases and 69 (0.78%) in controls. Peripheral neuropathy was found in 257 (15.9%) cases and 136 (1.5%) controls.Conclusion:Large number of people in the district of Nadia are showing arsenical skin lesion. However, insufficient education, poverty, lack of awareness and ineffective health care support are major factors causing immense plight to severely arsenic affected people.

The students' hands were contaminated before taking food. Although they washed hands before meals, they hardly used soap due to non-availability of soap. The school authority should be asked to keep soaps in the toilets for hand washing.

Increased prevalence of dental, skeletal, and non-skeletal fluorosis was found among the study population. Withdrawal of source(s) identified for fluoride by supplying domestic and community filters, dietary restriction, and other nutritional interventions led to decrease in manifestation of the three types of fluorosis within 5 months.

Introduction: Quality of life (QOL) of elderly often deteriorates due to many factors. This study was planned to find out the different domains of QOL of elderly people affected by socio-demographic factors. Materials and Methods: This was a community-based cross-sectional study conducted in Kolkata and Sonarpur area of West Bengal, India from January to December, 2013. The qQOL questionnaire developed by World Health Organization was used (BREF). The scores of QOL were assessed in the light of different socio-demographic characteristics. Results and Analysis: The QOL was significantly lower among people having more age, female, illiterate, financially fully dependent and those having lower socio-economic status. Conclusion: QOL is an important determinant of the living status of elderly and socio-demographic factors determine the QOL in this age group.

Objective: To assess whether nutritional deficiency increases susceptibility to arsenic-related health effects. Design: Assessment of nutrition was based on a 24 h recall method of all dietary constituents. Setting: Epidemiological cross-sectional study was conducted in an arsenicendemic area of West Bengal with groundwater arsenic contamination. Subjects: The study was composed of two groups -Group 1 (cases, n 108) exhibiting skin lesions and Group 2 (exposed controls, n 100) not exhibiting skin lesions -age-and sex-matched and having similar arsenic exposure through drinking water and arsenic levels in urine and hair. Results: Both groups belonged to low socio-economic strata (Group 1 significantly poorer, P , 0?01) and had low BMI (prevalence of BMI , 18?5 kg/m 2 : in 38 % in Group 1 and 27 % in Group 2). Energy intake was below the Recommended Daily Allowance (set by the Indian Council of Medical Research) in males and females in both groups. Increased risk of arsenical skin lesions was found for those in the lowest quintile of protein intake (v. highest quintile: OR 5 4?60, 95 % CI 1?36, 15?50 in males; OR 5 5?62, 95 % CI 1?19, 34?57 in females). Significantly lower intakes of energy, protein, thiamin, niacin, Mg, Zn and choline were observed in both males and females of Group 1 compared with Group 2. Significantly lower intakes of carbohydrate, riboflavin, niacin and Cu were also observed in female cases with skin lesions compared with non-cases. Conclusions: Deficiencies of Zn, Mg and Cu, in addition to protein, B vitamins and choline, are found to be associated with arsenical skin lesions in West Bengal. Keywords Arsenic manifestations Energy intake Micronutrients ProteinArsenic exposure through drinking water is a major health problem affecting many countries such as Bangladesh,