Groundwater arsenic contamination and its health effects have been reported from West Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, and Assam and most recently Chhattisgarh. In recent times, arsenic presence has been reported from the southern states of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, where the origin of this is largely attributed to industrial sources like gold mines, pesticide industries, pharmaceuticals etc. Arsenic poisoning can be either acute or chronic. Arsenic is now also considered a carcinogen. Unfortunately, there is no medicine to treat chronic arsenic poisoning.

Arsenic Knowledge and Network seeks to make efforts not only towards the identification and understanding the spread of arsenic, but also fill the space for a concerted and collaborative efforts to learn from each other and work towards solutions. The mandate of this network is to bring together knowledge and action driven by a network of partner organizations and individual members, sharing a common vision of bringing systematic and structural changes in arsenic mitigation strategies across India. The network was seed funded by Arghyam, Bangalore and SaciWATERs, Hyderabad acts as its secretariat.