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Speciation and Toxicity of Arsenic: A Human Carcinogen

Author Affiliations

  • 1 Department of Humanities and Science, Govt. Polytechnic College, Nowgong, Chhatarpur, MP, INDIA
  • 2 Department of Physics, Sushila Devi Bansal College of Engineering, Indore, MP, INDIA

Res. J. Recent Sci., Volume 2, Issue (ISC-2012), Pages 45-53, February,2 (2013)

Abstract

Arsenic is an element found in nature in rocks, soils, water and air in fact, it is one of the most common elements on earth. Arsenic is widely distributed throughout Earth's crust, generally as arsenic sulfide or as metal arsenates and arsenites. The major source of arsenic pollution in the environment is the smelting of ores such as those of gold, silver, copper and others. Arsenic from these sources is distributed in the air, water, soil and finds its way into the human system by way of direct inhalation or through contamination of food and consumer products. The world health organisation (WHO) recommended that many authorities reduce their regulatory limits and it has established a provisional guideline value of 10 μg/l for arsenic in drinking water. While arsenic has been used historically in industry in fertilizers and preservatives, it is probably best known as a poison, toxic to humans who ingest it. Large doses are fatal relatively quickly, while smaller doses over time can cause diseases such as several types of cancer and skin disorders. Arsenic can become an environmental hazard when it is weathered from local geologic units and enters the groundwater supply. In the world today, many populations are at risk for arsenic poisoning due to exposure from contaminated drinking water. Arsenic contamination of drinking water is presently a worldwide epidemic. Contaminated drinking water has been found in Argentina, Chile, Mexico, China, Hungary, West Bengal, Bangladesh and Vietnam. Of these regions, West Bengal and Bangladesh are most seriously affected in terms of the size of the population at risk and the magnitude of the health problems. An estimated 300,000 people in West Bengal alone suffer from arsenic-induced skin lesions. Serious illnesses related to arsenic such as melanosis, keratosis, cancer, and gangrene have been reported in West Bengal and Bangladesh. In the process of arsenic metabolism, inorganic arsenic is methylated to monomethylarsonic acid and finally to dimethylarsinic acid, followed by excretion through urine. Thus, arsenic exposure may cause DNA hypomethylation due to continuous methyl depletion, facilitating aberrant gene expression that results in carcinogenesis. Further, though arsenic is nonmutagenic, it interacts synergistically with genotoxic agents in the production of mutations, and also induces chromosome abnormalities and cell proliferation.

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