Salinity and Water-Related Disease Risk in Coastal Bangladesh

Abstract

An increase in surface and ground-water salinity due to climate change is reported to have become a great threat to the health of coastal inhabitants in Bangladesh. However, little is known about how much such salinity affects the risk of water-related diseases and how such risk can be mitigated in the field. This research examines the association between water-related diseases and coastal salinity along with sociodemographic and anthropometric factors. We conduct questionnaire surveys with 527 households: 273 subjects from the non-salinity and 254 subjects from the salinity rural coastal areas of Bangladesh. The logistic regression analysis demonstrates that the probability of suffering from water-borne, water-washed and water-related diseases are 8 %, 14 % and 11 % higher in the salinity areas than in the non-salinity areas, respectively. However, it is identified that people who consume rainwater as a drinking source and/or belong to "normal body mass index" have less chances of being affected by water-related diseases even in the salinity areas than those who drink ground/pond water and/or belong to "underweight body mass index." Overall, the results suggest that the long-term reservation of rainwater and addressing communitybased food security & nutrition programs shall be effective countermeasures to reduce the risk of health problems in the coastal population and to sustain their lives even under the threat of land salinity.

The roles of community nutrition scholars in changing mothers' child feeding, food preparation, and hygiene practices in southern Bangladesh

“…The study sites are the Khulna and Satkhira districts of the Ganges Brahmaputra Meghna delta region of Bangladesh (Figure 1) where children are highly vulnerable to undernutrition and micronutrient deficiencies as deltaic livelihoods are affected by environmental and climate changes (33), including frequent exposure to floods that cause outbreaks of infectious diseases (34)(35)(36). Compared to major cities in Bangladesh, the population density of both districts is low.…”

Strengthening adaptation in coastal Bangladesh: community-based approaches for sustainable agriculture and water management

“…Due to its extensive low-lying coastal region and frequent exposure to tropical storms, Bangladesh is highly vulnerable to the ingress of saltwater [19] and sea level rise [24] . Saltwater intrusion has detrimental effects on terrestrial environments, increasing salinity levels in both soil and surface water [46] .…”

“…Our study received ethical approval from the Review Board of the Center for Coastal Development (CCD), with the reference number CCD/extRes/2022/11 (19). We strictly followed the ethical guidelines set forth in the World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki regarding the inclusion of human subjects.…”

“…Saline soils have reduced water-holding capacity, causing stunted growth, decreased yields, and crop failure. The scarcity of safe drinking water in the southwestern coastal region of Bangladesh has direct implications for public health, as communities resort to unsafe alternatives such as untreated rainwater or limited treatment options for surface water bodies [18][19][20] .…”

Drinking water services in the primary schools: evidence from coastal areas in Bangladesh

“…(2011) documented drinking water salinity as one of the determinants of infant mortality in coastal Bangladesh. Numerous studies also reported salinity and bacterial contamination with higher incidences of water-borne illnesses including diarrhea, dysentery, cholera, jaundice in coastal Bangladesh ( Asma and Kotani, 2021 ; Hossain et al., 2021 ; Rahman et al., 2017 ; Islam et al., 2011 ). More recently, Akter (2019) argued that drinking water salinity decreases the children’s grade advancement likelihood.…”