Early Reports of Health Effects

The toxicological and human health effects caused by arsenic exposure were first described centuries ago, yet there are still many areas of inquiry that have not been elucidated, particularly with respect to the mechanisms of action of arsenic and the factors that may affect susceptibility to the damaging effects of this element and its compounds. These and other related areas are the topics of active research. Just in the last ten years, for example, there has been a plethora of publications focusing on these issues, including epidemiological studies investigating health outcomes in different populations across the globe exposed to arsenic in drinking water. Excellent comprehensive reviews have been published within the last few years by the International Program on Chemical Safety of the World Health Organization (IPCS 2001) and by the US National Research Council (NRC 1999, updated in 2001). The purpose of this article is to give a brief overview of these human studies.