Arsenic blood effects

Arsenical Blood Agents are gases or solids. Gases are colorless with a mild garlic-like odor. Effects from cumulative exposure may occur at levels below tlie odor threshold. Solids produce arsine gas (AsH,) when they come into contact with moisture. 

Arsenical Blood Agents are primarily a respiratory hazard. However, decomposition products may pose a contact hazard. Wear appropriate fully encapsulating protective gear with positive pressure self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA). Structural firefighters protective clothing is recommended for fire situations only it is not effective in spill or release events. 

Toxic Effects on the Blood-Forming Tissues Reduced formation of erythrocytes and other elements of blood is an indication of damage to the bone marrow. Chemical compounds toxic to the bone marrow may cause pancytopenia, in which the levels of all elements of blood are reduced. Ionizing radiation, benzene, lindane, chlordane, arsenic, chloramphenicol, trinitrotoluene, gold salts, and phenylbutazone all induce pancytopenia. If the damage to the bone marrow is so severe that the production of blood elements is totally inhibited, the disease state is termed aplastic anemia. In the occupational environment, high concentrations of benzene can cause aplastic anemia. 

A case report of acute arsine poisoning in which a 27-y-old man was exposed to arsine during chemical manufacturing was reported by Pinto (1976). The subject was exposed to arsine as a result of arsine production via a reaction between a galvanized bucket and an arsenic-containing sulfuric acid solution. The exposure (duration not specified) produced toxic effects characterized by abdominal cramping, thoracic discomfort, and hematuria. Over the next week, the patient s hematocrit declined from 42.5 to 27.1 and hemoglobin dropped from 14.1 to 9.5 g/dL even with medical intervention (blood transfusions and mannitol diuresis). Nine hours after exposure, blood arsenic was 159 g/dL and urinary arsenic was 1862 ug/L. 

Arsenic vesicants produce immediate pain. Tissue damage occurs within minutes of exposure but clinical effects may not appear for up to 24 hours. Some agents are rapidly absorbed through the skin. Extensive skin contamination may cause systemic damage to the liver, kidneys, nervous system, red blood cells, and the brain. 

Proximity to the smokestacks of metal smelters is positively associated with increased levels of lead in the hair (manes) of horses and in tissues of small mammals, and is consistent with the results of soil and vegetation analyses (USEPA 1972). Lead concentrations were comparatively high in the hair of older or chronically impaired horses (USEPA 1972). However, tissues of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) collected near a zinc smelter did not contain elevated levels of lead (Sileo and Beyer 1985). Among small mammals near a metal smelter, blood ALAD activity was reduced in the white-footed mouse but normal in others, e.g., the short-tailed shrew (Beyer et al. 1985). The interaction effects of lead components in smelter emissions with other components, such as zinc, cadmium, and arsenic, are unresolved (USEPA 1972) and warrant additional research. 

Arsenic uptake in rabbit intestine is inhibited by phosphate, casein, and various metal-chelating agents (USEPA 1980). Mice and rabbits are significantly protected against sodium arsenite intoxication by (V-(2,3-dimercaptopropyl)phthalamidic acid (Stine et al. 1984). Conversely, the toxic effects of arsenite are potentiated by excess dithiols, cadmium, and lead, as evidenced by reduced food efficiency and disrupted blood chemistry in rodents (Pershagen and Vahter 1979). 

Besides the odor, there may be no other immediate sign that a person is breathing arsine. Its main effect is to destroy red blood cells, causing anemia (destruction of red blood cells) and kidney damage (from red blood cell debris). Within hours after a serious exposure, the victim may develop dark red or brown urine, back pain or belly pain, weakness, or shortness of breath. The skin or eyes may become yellow or bronze in color. Although arsine is related to arsenic, it does not produce the usual signs of arsenic poisoning. 

In genotoxic assays inorganic arsenicals are either inactive or weak mutagens but are able to produce chromosomal effects including aberrations and sister chromatid exchange in most test systems. Studies of exposed human have detected higher incidences of chromosomal aberrations in peripheral lymphocytes and increases in the frequency of micronuclei in the oral mucosa cells, urothelial cells, and peripheral blood lymphocytes. ... 

He was made director of a new government laboratory in 1899 in Frankfurt, where he began to experiment in the synthesis of new substances not necessarily found in nature that could kill parasites or inhibit their growth without damaging the mammal. In 1902, Laveran and Mesnil of the Pasteur Institute found a method to infect mice with trypanosomes, and studied the effects of Fowler s Solution on them. They discovered that subcutaneous injection of the sodium salt of arsenous acid can cause the rapid disappearance of the parasite trypanosomes from the blood of mice and rats, but the parasites reappeared within a few days to cause the death of the animals. Ehrlich began... 

An examination of the effect of arsenate on the blood glucolysis of dogs and rabbits has shown10 that in the former case the glucolysis is... 

---