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Natalya Polishchuk Chi Vuong

Arsenic: A Global Poison. Natalya Polishchuk Chi Vuong. Arsenic. Elemental: metalloid, solid, steel gray Considered Inorganic- combined with O, S, and Cl. Organic-combined with C and H. Some organic forms less harmful than inorganic forms.

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Natalya Polishchuk Chi Vuong

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  1. Arsenic: A Global Poison Natalya Polishchuk Chi Vuong

  2. Arsenic • Elemental: metalloid, solid, steel gray • Considered Inorganic- combined with O, S, and Cl. Organic-combined with C and H. Some organic forms less harmful than inorganic forms. • Forms white or colorless, odorless, and does not evaporate. • Uses: metal alloys, semiconductors, auto batteries, pressure treating wood, mining, fertilizer and insecticides of the past

  3. Arsenic in the Environment • Widely distributed in Earth’s crust (3.4 ppm), naturally occurring, volcanic eruptions. • Compounds can dissolve in water and become airborne during natural processes and mining and smelting of ores, burning of coal etc. • Can build up in fish and shellfish tissue but less harmful form.

  4. Toxicology- Means and Measures of Exposure • Most exposure is from naturally contaminated water or soil. Common concentrations: • Natural Surface and Groundwater- 1-1000 ppb • 80% of drinking water in the U.S.- 2ppb • MCL- 10ppb • Soil- 1-40 ppm • Air- 1-2,000 nanog/m^3 • Food- 20-140 ppb • Latency of signs and symptoms of up to ten years. • CDC Report: Maximum Risk Levels • 0.005 mg/Kg/day for acute (14 day) oral exposure to inorganic arsenic • 0.0003 mg/Kg/day for chronic duration (365 days or more) oral exposure to inorganic arsenic.

  5. Toxicology- Health Effects • Damages body’s natural ability to repair DNA worsening effects of exposure to other toxins such as cigarette smoke. • Can affect cognitive development in children. • Long-term exposure: blackened hands and feet, open sores, gangrene, skin lesions • Carcinogen: bladder, lungs, liver, kidney

  6. Pictures Source: Bulletin of World Health Organization 2000

  7. Areas in the World Affected • At least 70 countries, including the US. • India, West Bengal, Mongolia, Mexico • Most egregious in Bangladesh. • 150 million people estimated to have chronic exposure

  8. Source: Medical Geology Research Case 2007

  9. Public Health Concern: USA • Areas in US high in As concentration in the geologic formations and with a high use in private wells which are not regulated by the EPA. • National Priority Lists maintained by the EPA finds As in 50% of it’s 1662 sites. (CDC) • Rice grown in former cotton fields contains 1.76 times as much As as that from CA

  10. Focus: Bangladesh • One of the world’s poorest countries, with the most people affected by the contamination. • Naturally occurring in groundwater. • Most people drink from wells. • Rice paddies are irrigated with contaminated water.

  11. Focus: Bangladesh Source: World Health Bulletin 2000

  12. Conclusions and Recommendations • Most crucial: Reduce arsenic exposure • Determine the geology of rocks before attempting to build wells. • Cheap solutions: rusty nails and coal ash as filters

  13. Conclusions and Recommendations • Folic acid reduced blood arsenic levels by 14 percent in a 200 chronically-exposed person study in Bangladesh by U. S. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. • Found in leafy vegetables, citrus fruits, whole grains, beans • Can be taken in pill form or added to flour • Selenium and Vitamin E also show promise

  14. References • Arsenic, Drinking Water, and DNA. Environment, Jul/Aug2006, Vol. 48 Issue 6, p6-7, 2p; • Carol Potera (2007). U.S. Rice Serves Up Arsenic. Environmental Health Perspectives, 115(6), A296.  Retrieved October 11, 2007, from Research Library database. (Document ID: 1294813541). •  FOLIC ACID LOWERS BLOOD ARSENIC LEVELS IN BANGLADESH. (2007, October 10). US Fed News Service, Including US State News,***[insert pages]***.  Retrieved October 11, 2007, from Research Library database. (Document ID: 1362264571). • Jorge L Rosado,  Dolores Ronquillo,  Katarzyna Kordas,  Olga Rojas,  et al. (2007). Arsenic Exposure and Cognitive Performance in Mexican Schoolchildren. Environmental Health Perspectives, 115(9), 1371-1375.  Retrieved October 11, 2007, from Research Library database. (Document ID: 1337615821). • Samuel Loewenberg (2007). Scientists tackle water contamination in Bangladesh. The Lancet, 370(9586), 471-472.  Retrieved October 11, 2007, from Research Library database. (Document ID: 1322000641). • Steven H Lamm,  Zhen-Dong Luo,  Fu-Bao Bo,  Ge-You Zhang,  et al. (2007). An Epidemiologic Study of Arsenic-Related Skin Disorders and Skin Cancer and the Consumption of Arsenic-Contaminated Well Waters in Huhhot, Inner Mongolia, China. Human and Ecological Risk Assessment, 13(4), 713-746.  Retrieved October 11, 2007, from Research Library database. (Document ID: 1320453431). • U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Toxicological Profile for Arsenic. Sept. 2005. Downloaded October 11, 2007 from www.cdc.gov. • http://www.who.int/docstore/bulletin/pdf/2000/issue9/bu0751.pdf • http://socrates.berkeley.edu/~asrg/00SmithContamDWBngldsh.pdf • Gijsbert B Van der Voet,  Robert B Finkelman (2007). Global Impacts Of Geogenic Arsenic: A Medical Geology Research Case. Retrieved October 11, 2007, from Research Library; database. (Document ID: 1246377391).

  15. Questions “No man (woman) is an island” ~John Donne~

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