Arsenic dose in patients with cutaneous carcinomata and hepatic hemangio-endothelioma after environmental and occupational exposure.
A total of 16 male cases with malignant tumours associated with arsenic-polluted water were observed in Tarapacá and Antofagasta Provinces, northern Chile. Fifteen of them had skin carcinomata and the remaining one a hemangio-endothelioma of liver. The skin cancer cases had latent periods ranging from 12-45 years. Three patients were studied in detail. The first one (skin cancer) had a latent period of 20 years with a weighted mean dose of 1.2 mg/day (total dose for latent period 8.4 g). The second one (skin cancer) had a latent period of 23 years with a weighted mean dose of 1.0 mg/day (total dose for latent period 8.3 g). The  third case (liver tumour) exhibited a latent period of 14 years with a weighted mean of  0.6 mg/day (total dose for latent period 3.1 g). Fifteen of the 16 cancer patients were labourers. For normal subjects of different ages and both sexes (n = 290) and ingesting arsenic-polluted water (0.60 ppm), the relationship between mean age and mean arsenic dose is expressed by a weighted least square polynomial regression, of second degree: E(y)- beta 0 + beta 1t + beta 2 t2 where y is mean arsenic dose (mg/person/day) and t is mean age (years). For the general male population and for male labourers, the respective equations are presented.
D000328:Adult; D001151:Arsenic / Q000032:analysis / Q000633:toxicity*; D005260:Female; D006390:Hemangioendothelioma / Q000139:chemically induced*; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000139:chemically induced*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced*; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000139:chemically induced*; D014873:Water Pollutants / Q000633:toxicity*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000633:toxicity*; D014881:Water Supply / Q000032:analysis
D014873:Water Pollutants; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D001151:Arsenic