Arsenic contamination of drinking water, which can occur naturally or because of human activities such as mining, is the single most important public health issue in Bangladesh. Fifty out of the 64 districts in the country have arsenic concentration of groundwater exceeding 50 µg L⁻¹, the Bangladeshi threshold, affecting 35–77 million people or 21–48% of the total population. Chronic arsenic exposure through drinking water and other dietary sources is an important public health issue worldwide affecting hundreds of millions of people. Consequently, arsenic poisoning has attracted the attention of researchers and has been profiled extensively in the literature. Most of the literature has focused on characterising arsenic poisoning and factors associated with it. However, studies examining the socio-economic aspects of chronic exposure of arsenic through either drinking water or foods remain underexplored. The objectives of this paper are (i) to review arsenic exposure pathways to humans; (ii) to summarise public health impacts of chronic arsenic exposure; and (iii) to examine socio-economic implications and consequences of arsenicosis with a focus on Bangladesh. This scoping review evaluates the contributions of different exposure pathways by analysing arsenic concentrations in dietary and non-dietary sources. The socio-economic consequences of arsenicosis disease in Bangladesh are discussed in this review by considering food habits, nutritional status, socio-economic conditions, and socio-cultural behaviours of the people of the country. The pathways of arsenic exposure in Bangladesh include drinking water, various plant foods and non-dietary sources such as soil. Arsenic affected people are often abandoned by the society, lose their jobs and get divorced and are forced to live a sub-standard life. The fragile public health system in Bangladesh has been burdened by the management of thousands of arsenicosis victims in Bangladesh.

饮用水中的砷污染可能是自然发生的，也可能是由于人类活动（例如采矿）引起的，是孟加拉国最重要的公共卫生问题。全国64个地区中，有50个地下水的砷浓度超过50 µg L ^-1孟加拉国的门槛，影响了35-77百万人，占总人口的21-48％。通过饮水和其他饮食来源引起的慢性砷暴露是世界范围内影响数亿人口的重要公共卫生问题。因此，砷中毒引起了研究人员的注意，并在文献中得到了广泛的介绍。大多数文献集中于表征砷中毒及其相关因素。但是，研究通过饮用水或食物长期暴露砷的社会经济方面的研究仍未得到充分开发。本文的目标是（i）审查砷对人的暴露途径；（ii）总结慢性砷暴露对公共健康的影响；（iii）研究砷中毒的社会经济影响和后果，重点是孟加拉国。该范围回顾通过分析饮食和非饮食来源中的砷浓度来评估不同暴露途径的贡献。本文通过考虑该国人民的饮食习惯，营养状况，社会经济状况和社会文化行为，讨论了孟加拉国砷中毒病的社会经济后果。孟加拉国的砷暴露途径包括饮用水，各种植物性食品和非饮食来源，例如土壤。受砷影响的人们常常被社会抛弃，失业并离婚，并被迫过着不合标准的生活。