Current research problems of chronic arsenicosis in China.
Chronic arsenicosis is a newly-emerged public-health issue in China and many other Asian countries. Over 200 million people are estimated to be at the risk of high arsenic exposure from drinking-water in the Asian region. To protect people from the hazards of chronic arsenic poisoning, the Chinese Government has been providing low-arsenic drinking-water to some seriously-affected rural areas, such as Inner Mongolia autonomous province. Results of follow-up studies showed that both the average values of arsenic, including inorganic arsenic (iAs), monomethylated arsenic, dimethylated arsenic and trimethylated arsenic, and 8-hydroxydeoxyguanine in urine, decreased significantly after drinking low-arsenic water for one year, and arsenic-specific skin lesions also improved to some extent. However, a five-year follow-up study showed no more significant improvement of skin lesions, while the potential risk of arsenic-induced cancers after cutting off high-arsenic exposure was still uncertain and indefinite. The susceptibility of children compared to adults to chronic arsenic exposure and the need to re-evaluate the appropriate standard of arsenic in drinking-water were also discussed in this paper.
Sun
Guifan
G
Department of Occupational Health, School of Public Health, China Medical University, Shenyang 110001, China. sungf@mail.cmu.edu.cn
Li
Xin
X
Pi
Jingbo
J
Sun
Yang
Y
Li
Bing
B
Jin
Yaping
Y
Xu
Yuanyuan
Y
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D020261:Arsenic Poisoning / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology* / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000652:urine; D002648:Child; D002681:China; D002908:Chronic Disease; D019353:Endemic Diseases; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D062665:Epidemiological Monitoring; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008452:Maximum Allowable Concentration; D008875:Middle Aged; D011159:Population Surveillance; D015397:Program Evaluation; D011634:Public Health; D012307:Risk Factors; D012423:Rural Health; D012871:Skin Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced; D014877:Water Pollution, Chemical / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D018508:Water Purification / Q000379:methods