IIT Bhubaneswar develops hand-held device to detect arsenic
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📌 Summary:
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IIT Bhubaneswar has developed a hand-held device to detect arsenic, aimed at improving water-quality monitoring and public health.
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The work was done by the Sensors and Spectroscopy Research Group (School of Electrical and Computer Sciences), led by Sayan Dey.
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A portable, low-cost arsenic sensor enables rapid field testing of drinking water without sending samples to a lab.
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Addresses chronic arsenic contamination of groundwater in parts of India (e.g., the Ganga-Brahmaputra basin), which causes arsenicosis and cancers.
🎯 UPSC Relevance: GS3 (indigenous R&D, science & technology for development, water pollution) — links domestic innovation to public-health and clean-water goals.
📝 Prelims Facts:
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Arsenic is a toxic metalloid; the BIS/WHO permissible limit for arsenic in drinking water is 0.01 mg/L (10 ppb).
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Chronic arsenic exposure causes arsenicosis, skin lesions and cancers.
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West Bengal, Bihar, Assam and parts of the Indo-Gangetic plain are arsenic-affected groundwater zones.
🔑 Key Term: Arsenicosis — a chronic illness caused by prolonged consumption of arsenic-contaminated water, marked by skin lesions and raised cancer risk.
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