Arsenic Levels and Speciation from Ingestion Exposures to Biomarkers in Shanxi, China: Implications for Human Health

Chronic exposure to arsenic (As) threatens human health. To systematically understand the health risks induced by As ingestion, we explored water and diet contributions to As exposure, and compared As in biomarkers and the arsenicosis in a geogenic As area in China. In this study, high percentages of water (77% of <i>n</i> = 131 total samples), vegetables (92%, <i>n</i> = 120), cereals (32%, <i>n</i> = 25), urine (70%, <i>n</i> = 99), nails (76%, <i>n</i> = 176), and hair (62%, <i>n</i> = 61) contained As higher than the acceptable levels. Dietary As contributed 92% of the average daily dose (ADD) when the water As concentration was less than 10 μg/L, for which 5 out of 30 examined participants were diagnosed with arsenicosis symptoms. The distinct positive correlation between ADD and As concentrations in urine, nails, and hair suggests different applicability for these biomarkers. Methylated As as the predominant urinary As species confirms that the ingested inorganic As is methylated and is excreted through urine. In situ microdistribution and speciation analysis indicates that As is mainly associated with sulfur in nails and hair. Nails, rather than hair and urine, could be used as a proper biomarker for arsenicosis. High ADD from the environment and low excretion could result in As toxicity to humans

Fabrication, Characterization, and Application of a Composite Adsorbent for Simultaneous Removal of Arsenic and Fluoride

Coexisting arsenic (As) and fluoride (F) in groundwater poses severe health risks worldwide. Highly efficient simultaneous removal of As and F is therefore of great urgency and high priority. The purpose of this study was to fabricate a novel composite adsorbent and explore the mechanism for concurrent removal of As­(V) and F at the molecular level. This bifunctional adsorbent with titanium and lanthanum oxides impregnated on granular activated carbon (TLAC) exhibits a pronounced As­(V) and F adsorption capacity over commercially available iron- and aluminum-based adsorbents for synthetic and real contaminated groundwater samples. Synchrotron-based X-ray microfluorescence analysis demonstrates that La and Ti were homogeneously distributed on TLAC. Extended X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopic results suggest that As­(V) formed bidentate binuclear surface complex as evidenced by an averaged Ti–As bond distance of 3.34 Å in the presence of F. Adsorption tests and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analysis indicate that F was selectively adsorbed on lanthanum oxides. The surface configurations constrained with the spectroscopic results were formulated in the charge distribution multisite complexation model to describe the competitive adsorption behaviors of As­(V) and F. The results of this study indicate that TLAC could be used as an effective adsorbent for simultaneous removal of As­(V) and F

Regional gray matter volume correlations with CAPS score in trauma survivors.

<p>In the trauma survivors (n = 20), the gray matter volume significantly and negatively correlated with the CAPS scores in the bilateral superior medial frontal lobe, left anterior and middle cingulate cortex, bilateral cuneus cortex, right middle occipital lobe. (<i>p</i><0.05, corrected at cluster level, with <i>k</i>>100 voxels).</p

Correlations of Gray matter volume with CAPS score in trauma survivors, recent onset PTSD and non PTSD.

<p>corrected at cluster level, p<0.05.</p><p>MNI:Montreal Neurological Institute system.</p><p>PTSD: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.</p

Regional gray matter volume correlations with CAPS score in trauma survivors with recent onset PTSD.

<p>In trauma survivors with recent onset PTSD (n = 10), the gray matter volume significantly and negatively correlated with the CAPS scores in the bilateral superior medial frontal lobe and right anterior cingulate cortex (p<0.05, corrected at cluster level, with k>100 voxels).</p

Regional gray matter volume reduction in recent onset PTSD compared with normal controls.

<p>The significant reduction regions in trauma survivors with recent onset PTSD (n = 10) compared with normal controls (n = 20) are rendered onto the standard T1 template of Montreal Neurological Institute. The trauma survivors with recent onset PTSD had a significantly decreased gray matter volume in the left ACC (<i>p</i><0.05, FWE corrected, with <i>k</i>>50 voxels). ACC: anterior cingulate cortex.</p

Sociodemographic and Volumetric Characteristic of the Sample.

a<p>There is no significant difference in gray matter volume between PTSD group and normal controls, p = 0.07.</p>b<p>There is no significant difference in gray matter volume between non PTSD group and normal controls, p = 0.08.</p><p>PTSD: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.</p

Regional gray matter volume changes in trauma survivors without PTSD compared with normal controls.

<p>The significant reduction region in trauma survivors without PTSD compared with normal controls (n = 20) are rendered onto the standard T1 template of Montreal Neurological Institute. Compared with normal controls, trauma survivors without PTSD (n = 10) had significantly decreased gray matter volume in left pallidum and right pulvinar. (<i>p</i><0.05, FWE corrected, with <i>k</i>>50 voxels).</p

Gray matter volume differences between recent onset PTSD, non PTSD and normal Controls.

<p>Corrected with Family Wise Error (FWE), p<0.05.</p><p>MNI: Montreal Neurological Institute system.</p><p>PTSD: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.</p