title: Arsenicosis history and research progress in Mainland China.
abstract: This article provides the history of arsenicosis in Mainland China and the research situation in the recent 10 years. The first large area of arsenicosis caused by high levels of arsenic in drinking water in Mainland China was discovered in Kuitun, Xinjiang Province, in 1983. The government attached great importance to arsenicosis and finally regarded it as the epidemic disease throughout the nation in 1994. Until 2006, the survey areas of wells with arsenic concentration greater than 50 μg/L in drinking water have involved 16 provinces in Mainland China. The molecular epidemiological studies on relationship between arsenic metabolism and manifestations of arsenicosis caused by chronic exposure to high level of arsenic in drinking water and the studies on arsenic exposure and related health effects in different arsenic exposure populations are summarized in this review.
authors.affiliation: Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, School of Public Health, China Medical University, Shenyang, China. sungf@mail.cmu.edu.cn
authors.forename: Guifan
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Yuanyuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Quanmei
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.forename: Shuhua
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Xi
mesh_terms: D001151:Arsenic / Q000633:toxicity; D020261:Arsenic Poisoning / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D060766:Drinking Water / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000737:chemistry; D006801:Humans; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000633:toxicity
chemical_list: D060766:Drinking Water; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D001151:Arsenic