Arsenic poisoning sources

Treatment of acute arsenic poisoning includes removal from the exposure source, supportive measures for loss of fluids, and chelation therapy (Ibrahim et al., 2006). Chelators that can be used include dimercaprol or 2,3-dimercaptosuccinic acid. In cases of renal failure, hemodialysis should be considered. 

By far the most significant cause of arsenic poisoning in humans from an environmental source is contamination of groundwater in countries like Bangladesh, India, and China. The situation in Bangladesh has attracted particular attention and illustrates how one problem can be exchanged for another. 

Industrial and environmental sources cause most modern cases of arsenic poisoning. A National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health study in 1975 estimated that 1.5 million workers had potential exposure to arsenic (Hartman 1988). Poisonings have resulted from veterinary compounds, paints, herbicides, pesticides, rodenti-cides, treated lumber, and Chinese herbal products (Garvey et al. 2001 Gosselin et al. 1984 Peters et al. 1983). Table 7-1 lists occupations with the greatest risk of exposure to arsenic. 

Human exposure to arsenic has been mainly assessed in the past by the determination of the total arsenic concentration in blood, hair, nails, and urine. In cases of suspected arsenic poisoning gastric juice has also been analyzed. In order to obtain meaningful data, however, it is important to determine the chemical form of arsenic, at least in body fluids. Depending on the source and length of exposure, these indicators have a different meaning and different significance as well (Foa et al., 1987 Vahter, 1988). 

John Evelyn might have exaggerated the effects of arsenic in local air pollution but that particular source nevertheless represented a health hazard. An epidemic of arsenic poisoning in China has been linked to burning of arsenic-rich coal in stoves to provide heat (26,71). 

Anawar, H. M., J. Akai, K. M. G. Mostofa, et al. 2002. Arsenic Poisoning in Groundwater Health Risk and Geochemical Sources in Bangladesh. Environment International 27 597-604. 

The term heavy metal refers to any metallic chemical element that has a relatively high density (nsnally specific density of more than 5 g/mL) and is toxic or poisonous at low concentrations. Examples of heavy metals include arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), mercury (Hg), lead (Pb), and thallium (Tl). The sources, uses, and environmental effects of several exemplary specific metals are discussed briefly here. 

The search for chemicals that will provide relief from pain, cure disease and infection, and offer an escape from the real world has been a part of virtually every known human culture. In the earliest period of human civilization, plants, animal products, and minerals were the major source from which such chemicals were obtained. Many of those products—ranging from natural poisons obtained from frogs and certain types of plants to rocky minerals such as compounds of arsenic to mind-altering substances derived from mushrooms and cacti—are still used in at least some parts of the world as a means of capturing prey, for the treatment of disease, or for recreational purposes. Indeed, many pharmaceutical chemists believe that the natural world contains an almost endless supply of yet-to-be-discovered chemicals that will significantly augment the world s supply of drugs. 

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