Lentils to battle arsenic poisoning from Bangladesh well water in new study

A professor at the University of Calgaryis studying whetherSaskatchewan-grown lentils can counteract chronic arsenicpoisonings from well water that affect up to77 million people in Bangladesh.

Researchers from the faculty of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Calgary are monitoring 400 people in the south Asian country. They're working to prove that the lentils can work as an antidote to naturally-occurring arsenic that contaminates drinking water.

Lentils are already a dietary staple in Bangladesh, butthose grown in Saskatchewanhave higher levels of seleniuman element believed to counteract arsenic.

"Isn't that something that is beautiful and elegant? Especially because it's something that they eat anyway," said Judit Smits, professor at University of Calgary.

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The World Health Organization (WHO)calls the issue in Bangladesh the worst case of mass poisoning in the world.

Symptoms from long-term exposure rangefromhair loss, clogged arteries, bladder cancerand skin lesions. Somecasescancause disfigurement, such as theloss of fingers andtoes, and it can be fatal.

In the 1970s, Bengali children were dying from diarrhea illnesses from contaminated drinkingwater at alarming rates.Various charitable groups installed tube wells to access drinking water below the surface, but that introduced high levels of naturally-occurring arsenic.

Study totake 3years

Researchers have learned selenium is a natural antagonist of arsenic and they can bind together in the blood when both are present, and be excreted without causing any harm.

Smits believes the Canadian lentilswill decrease symptoms of long-term arsenic poisoning, and reduce the severity orincidence of related diseases.

The blind experimentwill be carried out over the course of three years. The families are given a white or a green bagthat isfilled with eitherhigh-selenium lentils or the low-selenium lentils. Researches willcollect hair and stool samplesbefore and after to see if arsenic levels have gone down aftereating the high-selenium lentils.

Smitssaysusing lentils is a far less expensive option than replacing the country's water supply, and more appealing than trying to get millions of people to take selenium pills every day.

The professorhopeslocal food producers could eventually grow selenium-richlentils themselves, but admits she needs more funding to carry out the experiment to the end.

"We're stuck, the Canadian dollar has lost close to 20 per centagainst the Bangladeshi taka. We were gob-smacked when we arrived in August."

The experiment is partially funded by Grand Challenges Canada, and the Global Institute for Food Security.

The study has received partial funding from the University of Saskatchewan and data will beanalyzed at university labsin Saskatoonand Calgary.