Increased mortality associated with well-water arsenic exposure in Inner Mongolia, China.
We conducted a retrospective mortality study in an Inner Mongolian village exposed to well water contaminated by arsenic since the 1980s. Deaths occurring between January 1, 1997 and December 1, 2004 were classified according to underlying cause and water samples from household wells were tested for total arsenic. Heart disease mortality was associated with arsenic exposure, and the association strengthened with time exposed to the water source. Cancer mortality and all-cause mortality were associated with well-water arsenic exposure among those exposed 10-20 years. This is the first study to document increased arsenic-associated mortality in the Bayingnormen region of Inner Mongolia.
US Environmental Protection Agency, National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA. wade.tim@epa.gov
Timothy J
TJ
Wade
Yajuan
Y
Xia
Kegong
K
Wu
Yanhong
Y
Li
Zhixiong
Z
Ning
X Chris
XC
Le
Xiufen
X
Lu
Yong
Y
Feng
Xingzhou
X
He
Judy L
JL
Mumford
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001151:Arsenic / Q000032:analysis / Q000633:toxicity*; D020261:Arsenic Poisoning / Q000401:mortality*; D002423:Cause of Death; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis / Q000633:toxicity*; D055815:Young Adult
D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D001151:Arsenic