background: chronic arsenic toxicity (arsenicosis) due to drinking of arsenic contaminated ground water is a global problem. however, its treatment is unsatisfactory. methylation of arsenic facilitates its urinary excretion. persons with relatively lower proportion of urinary dimethyl arsenic acid (dma) are found to have at greater risk of developing symptoms of arsenicosis including its compli...

BACKGROUND Inorganic arsenic (iAs) is a well-known human carcinogen recognized by the World Health Organization and the International Agency for Research on Cancer. Currently, most iAs studies in populations are concerned with drinking water and occupational arsenicosis. In Guizhou province, arsenicosis caused by the burning of coal in unventilated indoor stoves is an unusual type of exposure. ...

BACKGROUND Because metallothionein (MT) is a metal-binding protein that protects against metal intoxication, it could be a biomarker for individual sensitivity to metal toxicity. OBJECTIVE We assessed the use of bloodborne MT transcript as a reflection of tissue MT levels and examined the potential role of MT in arsenic toxicity in an environmentally exposed human population. METHOD Rodents...

Whereas studies in Taiwan found associations between arsenic exposure from drinking water and diabetes mellitus (DM), studies in other countries yielded inconsistent results, and diet might be a confounder. We conducted a study in Cambodia, where people have non-Western style diet, to evaluate the association. We measured well water and urine samples and examined skin signs of arsenicosis to as...

Besides its toxicity, groundwater arsenic contamination creates widespread social problems for its victims and their families in Bangladesh. There is, for instance, a tendency to ostracise arsenic-affected people, arsenicosis being thought of as a contagious disease. Within the community, arsenic-affected people are barred from social activities and often face rejection, even by their immediate...

Arsenicosis is a serious environmental chemical disease in China mainly caused by drinking water from pump wells contaminated by high levels of arsenic. Chronic exposure of humans to high concentrations of arsenic in drinking water is associated with skin lesions, peripheral vascular disease, hypertension, blackfoot disease, and high risk of cancers. Lead by the Ministry of Health of China, we ...

Objective To study different patterns of skin manifestations of arsenicosis. Methods A cross-sectional observational study was done on 110 patients of clinically suspected arsenicosis attending the dermatology outdoor of a tertiary care centre in eastern India over a period of one year. Cutaneous indicators like keratosis over palms and soles, melanosis and hypopigmentation over trunk in patien...

Diagnosis of arsenicosis relies on both clinical and laboratory criteria, but principally it can be diagnosed on the basis of its cutaneous manifestations. Cutaneous manifestations (melanosis, keratosis, and cutaneous cancers) are essential clues in the diagnosis, and trained dermatologists or arsenic experts are able to clinically confirm a case even without laboratory backup. Although systemi...

BACKGROUND Occupational and environmental exposure to inorganic arsenic leads to development of cancer and represents a significant health hazard in more than 70 countries. The underlying mechanism for arsenic-induced carcinogenesis remains unclear. Laboratory studies suggest that arsenic is a poor mutagen but may cause epigenetic silencing of key tumor suppressor genes such as p16 through DNA ...

Chronic arsenic toxicity (arsenicosis) due to drinking of arsenic contaminated ground water is a major environmental health hazard throughout the world including India. A lot of new information is emerging from extensive research on health effects of chronic arsenic toxicity (CAT) in humans during the last two decades. Available literature has been reviewed to highlight the problem including it...