Following the event of the “Cancer Village” in Thach Son (Phu Tho), residents of Thong Nhat village in Dong Lo commune, Ung Hoa district, Ha Tay province are currently very worried due to the high number of cancer-related deaths. Many locals believe that the use of groundwater contaminated with arsenic may be the cause.
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Authorities are testing water quality in Thach Son, Phu Tho (Photo: VNN) |
Nguyen Thi Le’s family in Thong Nhat village has lost two members to cancer. In 2000, her mother-in-law died of liver cancer. Three years later, Pham Van Huong also passed away due to this dreadful disease at just 47 years old. For the past ten years, her family has been using water from a 20-meter deep well for their daily needs.
Some villagers have reported that the water appears clear when pumped up, but after a while, it becomes murky like rice water; even filtering does not help, and it has an unpleasant smell that often causes skin irritation.
Pham Duc Hoanh, who has just been diagnosed with skin cancer, lost his father to kidney cancer four years ago. He cannot identify the cause of his illness, and without using well water, there are no alternative sources available…
According to statistics from the People’s Committee of Dong Lo commune, over the past decade, 30 people have died in Thong Nhat village, with 22 of those deaths attributed to cancer. The deceased were all aged between 45 and 55.
At the end of 2005, the Ha Tay Center for Clean Water and Environmental Sanitation tested well water samples from more than 100 families in Dong Lo commune. The results showed that the arsenic concentration in most samples exceeded permissible levels by 5 to 6 times. Although there has yet to be a conclusion that the cause of cancer is due to the water source, addressing arsenic-contaminated water is imperative and not overly complex; properly designed filters can reduce arsenic levels by 90%.
According to Nguyen Tien Noi, Director of the Ha Tay Center for Rural Clean Water and Environmental Sanitation: “Upon inspection, most filters here are too small, do not meet standards, have insufficient filter layers, and lack rainwater collection systems. Overall, the filters here do not meet the required specifications.”
The Ung Hoa District Health Center has advised families not to use well water for drinking and cooking, recommending that they build rainwater collection tanks. However, most residents of Thong Nhat village have not been able to construct these tanks. Surface water from dug wells and ponds is also not usable, as pollutants from the Nhue River flowing through the village have seeped into the water source.
As of now, the residents of Thong Nhat village continue to rely on arsenic-contaminated groundwater, living in fear of cancer.
