The Broad Scope of Health Effects from Chronic Arsenic Exposure: Update on a Worldwide Public Health Problem

Background: Concerns for arsenic exposure are not limited to toxic waste sites and massive poisoning events. Chronic exposure continues to be a major public health problem worldwide, affecting hundreds of millions of persons. Objectives: We reviewed recent information on worldwide concerns for arsenic exposures and public health to heighten awareness of the current scope of arsenic exposure and health outcomes and the importance of reducing exposure, particularly during pregnancy and early life. Methods: We synthesized the large body of current research pertaining to arsenic exposure and health outcomes with an emphasis on recent publications. Discussion: Locations of high arsenic exposure via drinking water span from Bangladesh, Chile, and Taiwan to the United States. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency maximum contaminant level (MCL) in drinking water is 10 µg/L; however, concentrations of greater than 3,000 µg/L have been found in wells in the United States. In addition, exposure through diet is of growing concern. Knowledge of the scope of arsenic-associated health effects has broadened; arsenic leaves essentially no bodily system untouched. Arsenic is a known carcinogen associated with skin, lung, bladder, kidney, and liver cancer. Dermatological, developmental, neurological, respiratory, cardiovascular, immunological, and endocrine effects are also evident. Most remarkably, early-life exposure may be related to increased risks for several types of cancer and other diseases during adulthood. Conclusions: These data call for heightened awareness of arsenic-related pathologies in broader contexts than previously perceived. Testing foods and drinking water for arsenic, including individual private wells, should be a top priority to reduce exposure, particularly for pregnant women and children, given the potential for life-long effects of developmental exposure

Drivers of diversification and pluriactivity among smallholder farmers—evidence from Nigeria

Diversification and pluriactivity have become a norm among farm business owners (FBOs) due to persistent low farm income. This study applies the resource-based theory to examine drivers of diversification and livelihood income-oriented towards a sustainable livelihood. Our framework develops hypotheses about the impact of internal and external resources on livelihood choices at the household level. We use a survey of 480 rural Nigerian farmers (agripreneurs), applying a Multivariate Tobit to test our framework. We find that education plays the most significant role in all types of employment options. The more FBOs are educated, the more the likelihood that they will choose non-farm or wage employment. This study revealed that while the agriculture sector’s share of rural employment is declining, non-farm is on the increase. More so, there is a decline in farming among the young generation, marital status bias and gender influence in resource allocation. The socioeconomic (income and food security) and socio-cultural (employment and rural-urban migration) implications of rural sustainability linked to UN Development Goals have been highlighted and analysed in this article

Principles and application of an in vivo swine assay for the determination of arsenic bioavailability in contaminated matrices

The assessment of arsenic (As) bioavailability from contaminated matrices is a crucial parameter for reducing the uncertainty when estimating exposure for human health risk assessment. In vivo assessment of As utilising swine is considered an appropriate model for human health risk assessment applications as swine are remarkably similar to humans in terms of physiology and As metabolism. While limited in vivo As bioavailability data is available in the literature, few details have been provided regarding technical considerations for performing in vivo assays. This paper describes, with examples, surgical, experimental design and analytical issues associated with performing chronic and acute in vivo swine assays to determine As bioavailability in contaminated soil and food.Matthew Rees, Lloyd Sansom, Allan Rofe, Albert L. Juhasz, Euan Smith, John Weber, Ravi Naidu and Tim Kuche

Arsenic exposure assessment of children living in a lead mining area in Southeastern Brazil Avaliação da exposição de crianças ao arsênio em área de mineração de chumbo na Região Sudeste do Brasil

Environmental contamination by arsenic compounds in the Ribeira River Valley, São Paulo, Brazil has already been observed. Lead mining and refining activities had been carried on since late colonial times and finished recently, at the end of 1995. The source of As in the region is known to be mainly from arsenopirite geological presence in the lead ore. Chronic exposure to arsenic compounds may cause peripheral vascular disorders, hyperpigmentation, hiperkeratosis and cancer of the skin, bladder, lung, liver and other internal organs. The purpose of this study was to assess children exposure to arsenic from environmental sources in the region. Urine samples from children between 7 to 14 years old were collected at the following localities: Cerro Azul (Paraná); urban areas of Ribeira (São Paulo) and Adrianópolis (Paraná); Vila Mota neighborhood (rural area of Adrianópolis) and Serra neighborhood (Iporanga, São Paulo), identified as groups 1, 2, 3 and 4, respectively. Group 1 was considered as non-exposed control group. Toxicologically relevant forms of As were determined by atomic absorption spectrometry with hydride generation system. The median values of urine arsenic levels obtained in groups 1, 2, 3 and 4 were respectively: 3.60, 6.30, 6.41 e 8.94&#956;g/L.<br>Contaminação ambiental por compostos de arsênio no Vale do Ribeira, São Paulo, Brasil, tem sido já observada. As atividades de mineração e refinamento do chumbo têm ocorrido desde a época colonial e foram encerradas recentemente, no final de 1995. A principal fonte de arsênio na região é arsenopirita que ocorre geologicamente no minério de chumbo. Exposição crônica aos compostos de arsênio podem causar desordens vasculares periféricas, hiperpigmentação, hiperqueratose, além de câncer de pele, bexiga, pulmão, fígado e outros órgãos. O objetivo do presente estudo foi avaliar a exposição de crianças ao arsênio proveniente de fontes ambientais na região. Amostras de urina de crianças entre 7 e 14 anos foram coletadas das seguintes localidades: Município de Cerro Azul (Paraná); região urbana dos municípios de Ribeira (São Paulo) e Adrianópolis (Paraná); bairro Vila Mota (área rural de Adrianópolis) e bairro Serra (Ipiranga, São Paulo), identificados como grupos 1, 2, 3 e 4, respectivamente. O grupo 1 foi considerado não exposto (grupo controle). As formas de arsênio toxicologicamente relevantes foram determinadas por espectrometria de absorção atômica com sistema de geração de hidretos. Os valores medianos de arsênio obtidos nos grupos 1, 2, 3 e 4 foram iguais a 3,60, 6,30, 6,41 e 8,9&#956;g/L