Arsenic in Well Water
A number of wells in the Fairbanks area contain greater than acceptable concentrations of arsenic. These wells occur within a mineralized belt extending from Pedro Dome--Cleary Summit southwest to Ester Dome. The arsenic derives from arsenopyrite and other arsenic compounds found in association with gold veins of the Fairbanks Mining District. Arsenic is contained both in stream water and well water; in the Ester Dome area between 1/3 and 1/2 the approximately 100 wells recently sampled contain arsenic in excess of the recommended maximum.
Some people of Austria and other regions intentionally eat arsenic compounds believing that they exert a tonic effect. Some arsenic compounds have been used as medical treatment for various disorders and diseases. There are known instances of persons ingesting rather substantial amounts of arsenic without showing evident harmful effect.
On the other hand, arsenic is a known poison which degenerates the lining of the digestive tract and other organs; also it appears to attack the nervous system to cause numbness and tingling, especially in the legs and feet, and it may be a cancer-causing agent. A recent report by the Institute of Water Resources of the University of Alaska states that a dose of 70 milligrams is known to be toxic to humans (70 milligrams is roughly the weight of a one-inch square of typing paper). A letter recently received from the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services states that a single dose of arsenic may require as much as ten days for disappearance, and a medical doctor told me that it can take years to rid the body of all signs of arsenic once ingestion has stopped.
Giving one pause are reports of an area in Chile where there was high incidence of cancer, stroke and heart failure among children drinking water containing arsenic at the same concentrations being found in some Fairbanks area wells. The unusual incidence of these disorders disappeared within five years of the time the children received only arsenic-free water. Similar findings were made in an area of Nova Scotia.
Quite obviously one is unwise to regularly drink or use for cooking water from an arsenic-rich well. Anyone uncertain about the existence of arsenic or other impurities in his well should contact a local office of the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation.
