title: Community exposure to arsenic in the Mekong river delta, Southern Vietnam.
abstract: We examined the daily inorganic arsenic (i-As) intake from drinking water and rice in 45 households (75 individuals) in the An Giang province, Southern Vietnam. The daily i-As intake ranged from 28-102 μg d(-1), equivalent to the daily dose of 0.6-1.9 μg d(-1) kg((body wt))(-1). Increased As concentrations were observed in human hair in the study location. Approximately 67% (n = 44), 42% (n = 28), and 15% (n = 10) of the hair samples had As levels exceeding 1, 3, and 10 μg g(-1), respectively. The total As concentrations in female and male hair correlated well with the total daily i-As intake. Measurement of As concentrations in the hair of people who were consuming or had previously consumed As from contaminated sources may help predict the onset of negative health effects. We suggested an application of the Bayes's theorem to calculate the probability that an individual in a population will acquire a negative health effect, given that the concentration of arsenic in the subject's hair has been determined.
authors.affiliation: School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology, 261 Cheom-dan, Gwagiro, Bukgu, Gwangju, 500-712, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Hoang Thi
authors.initials: HT
authors.lastname: Hanh
authors.forename: Kyoung-Woong
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Sunbaek
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bang
authors.forename: Nguyen My
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Hoa
mesh_terms: D001151:Arsenic / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000378:metabolism; D004032:Diet / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000032:analysis* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D005260:Female; D006197:Hair / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012275:Oryza / Q000737:chemistry; D045483:Rivers / Q000737:chemistry; D014744:Vietnam; D014881:Water Supply / Q000032:analysis / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D001151:Arsenic