A new study published 
 
in the US-based 
 
Proceedings 
 
of the National Academy 
 
of Sciences shows that 
 
65% of drinking water 
 
wells in one region of 
 
Âu Lạc are at risk of 
 
containing unsafe levels 
 
of arsenic and other 
 
harmful substances. 
 
Dr. Michael Berg, 
 
senior scientist at the 
 
Swiss Federal Institute 
 
of Aquatic Science and 
 
Technology, co-authored 
 
the study which estimates 
 
that some seven million 
 
people in the southeast 
 
Asian country are at risk. 
 
In addition to arsenic, 
 
which is toxic and 
 
can cause vomiting 
 
and anemia as well as 
 
cancer of the skin, lungs, 
 
bladder and kidneys, 
 
about 44% of the wells 
 
contained unsafe levels 
 
of manganese, 
 
with an estimated 
 
five million people 
 
who might be affected. 
 
Manganese 
 
at high concentrations 
 
can damage children's 
 
intellectual ability. 
 
The risk of harmful 
 
contamination has 
 
increased in recent years 
 
due to unsustainable 
 
water use combined 
 
with climate change 
 
effects such as 
 
desertification caused 
 
by prolonged drought. 
 
Dr. Berg, in cooperation 
 
with Hà Nội University 
 
of Science 
 
and Technology,
 
has created 
 
a groundwater map that 
 
shows safe water sources, 
 
which Aulacese 
 
(Vietnamese) officials 
 
intend to use as a tool
 
to provide alternate 
 
clean water supplies. 
 
Our sincere thanks, 
 
Dr. Berg and associates 
 
for this revealing study 
 
and your work with 
 
the Aulacese government 
 
to protect the public 
 
from such grave 
 
contamination-related 
 
diseases. 
 
Let us endeavor to live 
 
in greater harmony 
 
with nature to ensure 
 
the health of both 
 
humans and the planet. 
 
During a December 2010 
 
videoconference 
 
in Dubai, 
 
United Arab Emirates, 
 
Supreme Master Ching Hai 
 
spoke about similar 
 
issues of imbalance and 
 
encouraged government 
 
measures to minimize 
 
environmental harm.
 
Supreme Master Ching Hai : The problem is 
 
much of these chemicals 
 
or pollutants that 
 
run into our water 
 
are not colorful, 
 
not specially significant 
 
so that we can even know 
 
what it is, or we can 
 
even see what it is. 
 
And even the chemicals 
 
or the pollutant or 
 
the poison, even mercury 
 
for example, that 
 
goes into the fish that 
 
the people consume, 
 
they're colorless, 
 
tasteless. 
 
So people don't even 
 
know what they're eating 
 
until they've fallen ill 
 
or die. 
 
We need every help 
 
right now in this 
urgent time, 
 
to save our planet. 
 
I hope government 
 
will guide 
 
the agriculture sector to 
 
the organic vegan path. 
 
for a sustainable future.
 
And finally, we must 
 
change our lifestyle. 
 
We should live 
 
more simply, sustaining 
 
ourselves on the best diet, 
 
and the economy, 
 
ecology diet 
 
that is organic vegan. 
 
And we should also 
 
live more contented, 
 
not only with money or 
 
material possessions, 
 
but with spiritual 
 
inner strength as well. 
http://www.nature.com/news/2011/110117/full/news.2011.20.html?s=news_rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+news%2Frss%2Fmost_recent+%28NatureNews+-+Most+recent+articles%29http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-01-17/arsenic-poisoned-water-threatens-vietnamese-in-alarming-study.html,
 
http://www.soschildrensvillages.org.uk/charity-news/high-arsenic-levels-in-drinking-water-from-wells-in-vietnam,
 
http://portal.unesco.org/geography/en/ev.php-URL_ID=8695&URL_DO=DO_PRINTPAGE&URL_SECTION=201.htmlhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/09/100920074013.htmhttp://www.english.rfi.fr/asia-pacific/20110118-quarter-vietnams-drinking-wells-contain-dangerous-levels-arsenic
  http://www.watertechonline.com/news.asp?N_ID=75635 
http://www.soschildrensvillages.org.uk/charity-news/high-arsenic-levels-in-drinking-water-from-wells-in-vietnam
   
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-01-17/arsenic-poisoned-water-threatens-vietnamese-in-alarming-study.html