Students in Madhya Pradesh are documenting excess fluoride in groundwater through a citizen science project that uses smartphones and portable fluoride detection kits. The students go around villages in Alirajpur district, testing water samples from handpumps, geotagging them, and marking them as safe or unsafe.

Madhya Pradesh is one of the 19 Indian states severely affected by high fluoride content in drinking water. Long-term ingestion of large amounts of fluoride can lead to dental and skeletal fluorosis.

Through the project run by Columbia University researchers and local partners, the young volunteers, majorly girls, are finding a solution to the fluoride crisis by identifying the extent of the problem in their homelands.

Visit Mongabay India for news and inspiration from nature’s frontline in India.

The story was supported by the Solutions Journalism Network ‘LEDE’ fellowship.

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<div>Students in Madhya Pradesh are documenting excess fluoride in groundwater through a citizen science project that uses smartphones and portable fluoride detection kits. The students go around villages in Alirajpur district, testing water samples from handpumps, geotagging them, and marking them as safe or unsafe.<br><br>
</div><div>Madhya Pradesh is one of the 19 Indian states severely affected by high fluoride content in drinking water. Long-term ingestion of large amounts of fluoride can lead to dental and skeletal fluorosis.<br><br>
</div><div>Through the project run by Columbia University researchers and local partners, the young volunteers, majorly girls, are finding a solution to the fluoride crisis by identifying the extent of the problem in their homelands.<br><br>
</div><div>Visit <a href="http://india.mongabay.com/"><strong>Mongabay India</strong></a> for news and inspiration from nature’s frontline in India.<br><br>
</div><div>The story was supported by the Solutions Journalism Network <a href="https://thewholestory.solutionsjournalism.org/how-our-21-lede-fellows-are-spreading-solutions-journalism-around-the-globe-74e47de44e7d"><strong>‘LEDE’ fellowship</strong></a>.<br><br>
</div><div><a href="https://www.sunoindia.in/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Fluoride-Warriors%E2%80%99-use-science-to-fight-water-contamination-in-Madhya-Pradesh.pdf"><strong>Download Transcript.</strong></a></div>

In India, every year, the summers are getting longer, the winters harsher and the downpours intense. Floods in Assam, droughts in Tamil Nadu and growing problem of water scarcity in many states are no longer an abnormality but the new reality!There is an urgency to solve the problems caused by human induced climate change and to understand and find solutions before it is late. This is Climate Emergency and we will bring to fore and discuss the growing impact of climate change. We will also highlight and celebrate climate champions- individuals and communities who are undoing the damage done so far

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