Project Lead(s): Judit Smits
Issue
Arsenic poisoning from groundwater is a major public health challenge in Bangladesh. About 45 million residents are at risk because of arsenic in their drinking water.
Micronutrient selenium (Se)-deficient soils lead to less nutritious local foods. Selenium deficiency exacerbates the toxic burden incurred by arsenic exposure.
Solution
Soil from Saskatchewan is rich in selenium, meaning food crops grown in this soil are high in selenium. Most crop-producing regions of the world are selenium deficient.
Animal testing has demonstrated that diets made from Saskatchewan-grown lentils reduce arsenic toxicity, lower levels of arsenic in the body and reduce arsenic-induced atherosclerosis.
The project team speculated that selenium-rich Saskatchewan lentils, incorporated into the daily meals of arsenic-exposed Bangladeshi families, could mitigate the symptoms of long-term arsenic poisoning in a cost-effective and nutritionally beneficial manner.
The pilot project tested a three-month dietary intervention trial to introduce Saskatchewan-grown lentils to Bangladeshis whose well water contained 25–50X higher arsenic than the limit considered ‘safe’ in North America.
Villages where arsenic in drinking water is a problem were identified, and questionnaires were developed to assess the socioeconomic and health status of potential participants in the clinical feeding trial.
Plans were developed for a trial involving 200 individuals (family groups) in each of the high- and low-selenium treatment groups. A pilot study was conducted to ensure that the families could consume 65g of lentil per person per day.
Outcome
The clinical feeding trial was delayed due to hold-ups in acquiring six different ethics approvals, logistical issues with shipping 10 tonnes of lentils, and obtaining accessible ventilated secure storage.
Delays in receiving matching funds also contributed to the delayed start of the clinical trial.
However, wells with high levels of arsenic (>100ppb) were identified, all 400 participants depending on these wells were recruited, and all equipment, supplies, healthcare personnel and local workers needed to support the clinical trial were put into place.
A one-week pilot study with four families was conducted to ensure that families could consume 65g of lentils per person per day, as stipulated by the Data Safety and Monitoring Board at icddr,b. The lentil dietary intervention trial began and will span 12 months, since different families began their lentil diets over a five-month period. This staggered design was necessary to make the sample collections and health monitoring, feasible.
The project team is seeking additional funding to scale up the original proposal and to pursue research questions that have arisen from their findings.