Overview of the Nature, Extent, Health Risks, and Treatment of Metal-affected Drinking Water in Bangladesh

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Table 2. The performance of three local laboratories that routinely analyze Bangladesh’s drinking water for arsenic. ^a

Sample Description	Independent Laboratory	Result (mg/L)
Standard solution = 1 mg As/L	Laboratory 1	4.891
Sample A (0.25 mg As/L)	"	1.101
Sample A plus 6.3 mg As/L	"	24.126
Standard solution = 1 mg As/L	Laboratory 2	0.533
Sample B (0.31 mg As/L)	"	0.397
Sample B plus 3.3 mg As/L	"	0.884
Standard solution = 1 mg As/L	Laboratory 3	< 0.5
Sample B (0.31 mg As/L)	"	0.30
Sample B plus 7.1 mg As/L	"	> 1.0

^a These results are from our 1997 field program.

The recovery of arsenic from independent standards (1 milligram of pure arsenic added to 1 liter of pure water) and sample matrix spikes (a known mass of pure arsenic added to 1 liter of sample water) was used to evaluate these 3 laboratories.
None generated accurate results. All 3 would presumably benefit from a more rigorous quality assurance and quality control program.
The arsenic results from Laboratory 1 are systematically high by approximately a factor of 4; therefore, a simple calibration error was likely generating results which incorrectly suggest that the arsenic problem is 4 times worse than reality.
Laboratories 2 and 3 only recovered approximately 50% of the arsenic from independent standards, such results underestimate the significance to the arsenic problem by a factor of 2.

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Table 2. The performance of three local laboratories that routinely analyze Bangladesh’s drinking water for arsenic. a

Table 2. The performance of three local laboratories that routinely analyze Bangladesh’s drinking water for arsenic. ^a