Venomous Earth is the compelling story of the worst chemical disaster in human history - unfolding now. It explores the geology, politics and biology of why tens thousands of people are dying, hundreds of thousands developing cancer and tens of millions of people are at risk in Bangladesh, India and beyond, from arsenic-contaminated well water.
Andrew Meharg compares this scenario with that in other areas of the world where drinking water is tainted with arsenic, such as extensive areas of South Western USA, the Alto Plano of South America and New Zealand's volcanic regions. He details historical precedents spanning thousands of years in mining and smelting communities, and due to the widespread use of arsenic in alchemy, farming, medicine and manufacturing. His tale takes in William Morris, Paracelsus, George W Bush and a cosmetic that killed two popes.
Finally Venomous Earth looks at how the current arsenic crisis is to be tackled and highlights new challenges to our ongoing struggle with the toxic element.

Rice is the staple food for half of the world's population. Consumption of rice is the major exposure route globally to the class one, non-threshold carcinogen inorganic arsenic. This book explains the sources of arsenic to paddy soils and the biogeochemical processes and plant physiological attributes of paddy soil-rice ecosystems that lead to high concentrations of arsenic in rice grain. It presents the global pattern of arsenic concentration and speciation in rice, discusses human exposures to inorganic arsenic from rice and the resulting health risks. It also highlights particular populations that have the highest rice consumptions, which include Southern and South East Asians, weaning babies, gluten intolerance sufferers and those consuming rice milk. The book also presents the information of arsenic concentration and speciation in other major crops and outlines approaches for lowering arsenic in rice grain and in the human diet through agronomic management.

Rice is the staple food for half of the world s population. Consumption of rice is the major exposure route globally to the class one, non-threshold carcinogen inorganic arsenic. This book explains the sources of arsenic to paddy soils and the biogeochemical processes and plant physiological attributes of paddy soil-rice ecosystems that lead to high concentrations of arsenic in rice grain. It presents the global pattern of arsenic concentration and speciation in rice, discusses human exposures to inorganic arsenic from rice and the resulting health risks. It also highlights particular populations that have the highest rice consumptions, which include Southern and South East Asians, weaning babies, gluten intolerance sufferers and those consuming rice milk. The book also presents the information of arsenic concentration and speciation in other major crops and outlines approaches for lowering arsenic in rice grain and in the human diet through agronomic management."