This week, announcements from around the globe offered possible solutions to two of Asia’s most intractable environmental problems: arsenic poisoning and wildlife trafficking.

With more than 140 million people consuming arsenic-laced water in Southern Asian nations like Cambodia, Bangladesh, and Myanmar, understanding what causes the mass poisonings and how to prevent further ingestion has always been a top priority for scientists. Thus the announcement by a group of Stanford University researchers that a cause may have been pinpointed comes as welcome news. According to their analysis, the naturally occurring arsenic that is leached from the Himalaya Mountains and carried into water basins relied upon by human settlements actually dissolves due to contact with bacteria in the riverbeds. This discovery runs counter to the prevailing logic that arsenic-tainted water came primarily from deep beneath the earth’s surface. The new findings will be used to find safe well sites, a process that one of the researchers said would be “extremely accurate” in avoiding arsenic tainted water.

In a battle against wildlife trafficking, the Thai and US governments are pairing up to hold seminars at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport to better teach employees how to spot and detain animal smugglers and traffickers. Trafficking profits are estimated to be close to $30 billion each year, and reportedly is the third largest illegal trade after drugs and guns. Largely overworked airport security patrols welcomed the conference as an opportunity to gain a better understanding of just what animals were vulnerable to illegal trafficking.

Image: Caged monkey, Thailand