Arsenic exposure/poisoning toxicity

Hair as a marker of exposure to toxicants has been of considerable interest to toxicologists for more than a hundred years. Casper reported in 1857 the analysis of hair for the detection of poisons in his famous Practisches Handbuch der gerichtlichen Median. He referred to Hoppe-Seyler, who had found arsenic in the hair of an 11-year-buried body and had discussed the possibility that the metal was incorporated before death. About 100 years later, the first report about the detection of an organic drug in hair was published. Goldblum et al. described an ultraviolet method to detect barbiturates in guinea pig hair. 

Marks GS (1985) Exposure to toxic agents the heme biosynthetic pathway and hemoproteins as indicator. Crit Rev Toxicol 15 151-179 Martinez G, Cebrian M, Chamorro G, Jauge P (1983) Urinary uroporphyrin as an indicator of arsenic exposure in rats. Proc West Pharmacol Soc 26 171 Mayo Medical Laboratories Interpretive Handbood (1990) Mayo Medical Laboratories, Rochester, MN, pp 149-152 Meredith PA, Moore MR, Goldberg A (1974) The effects of aluminum, lead and zinc on ( -aminolevulinic acid dehydratase. Biochem Soc Trans 2 1243-1245 Millar JA, Gumming RL, Battistini V, Cabswell F, Goldberg A (1970) Lead and S-aminolevulinic acid dehydratase levels in mentally retarded children and in lead-poisoned suckling rats. Lancet ii 695-698... 

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. 

BAL is the standard treatment for poisoning by arsenic compounds and will alleviate some effects from exposure to arsenic vesicants. It may also decrease the severity of skin and eye lesions if applied topically within minutes after decontamination is complete (i.e., within 2-5 minutes postexposure). Additional chelating agents for the treatment of systemic arsenic toxicity include meso-2,3-dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA) and 2,3-dimercapto-l-propanesulfonic acid (DMPS). 

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