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[ http://snipurl.com/6klp redirects to full URL:
http://toxsci.oupjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/79/2/287?
maxtoshow=&HITS=2&hits=2&RESULTFORMAT=&andorexacttitle=and&titleabstr
act=arsenic&andorexacttitleabs=and&andorexactfulltext=and&searchid=10
84995284756_36147&stored_search=&FIRSTINDEX=&fdate=4/28/2004&usestric
tdates=yes&journalcode=toxsci&ct]

Ronald C. Wester, Xiaoying Hui, Sherry Barbadillo, Howard I.
Maibach, Yvette W. Lowney, Rosalind A. Schoof, Stewart E. Holm, and
Michael V. Ruby. In Vivo Percutaneous Absorption of Arsenic from
Waterand CCA-Treated Wood Residue. Toxicol. Sci. 2004 79:287-295.

Abstract: This study was conducted to evaluate the dermal
absorption of arsenic from residues present on the surface of wood
preserved with chromated copper arsenate (CCA). The research
reported herein used methods parallel to those of earlier research
on the dermal absorption of radiolabeled arsenic (R. C. Wester et
al., 1993, Fund. Appl. Toxicol. 20, 336�340), with modifications to
allow use of environmental matrices that are not radiolabeled.
These modifications include the surface area of application and
dietary intake of arsenic, thus maximizing the potential for
detection of dermally absorbed arsenic in exposed animals above diet-
associated background levels of exposure. Two forms of arsenic were
administered in this work. The first, arsenic in solution, was
applied to the skin of monkeys to calibrate the model against prior
absorption research and to serve as the basis of comparison for
absorption of arsenic from CCA-treated wood residues. The second
substrate was residue that resides on the surface of CCA-treated
wood. Results from this research indicate that this study
methodology can be used to evaluate dermally absorbed arsenic
without the use of a radiolabel. Urinary excretion of arsenic above
background levels can be measured following application of soluble
arsenic, and absorption rates (0.6�4.4% absorption) are consistent
with prior research using the more sensitive, radiolabeled
technique. Additionally, the results show that arsenic is poorly
absorbed from CCA-treated wood residues (i.e., does not result in
urinary arsenic excretion above background levels).


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[ http://www.thedailystar.net/2004/05/19/d40519060255.htm ]

Removal of Arsenic From Water - 'Household filtration is cost-
effective'. The Daily Star (Dhaka), 19 May 2004.

Household filtration process to remove arsenic from groundwater has
proved cost-effective and easy to use, said the speakers at a day-
long roundtable yesterday.
They said the household filtration process costs less than Tk 240
for a family of about four people a year.

The speakers pointed out that in practice community-based arsenic
removal plants like harvesting of rainwater and pond-sand filters
are not popular because of technical reasons.

On the other hand, the low cost filters have already proved
acceptable and popular during the field-testing, they added.

The speakers said removal of arsenic from three different types of
water by oxidation and co-precipitation methods has proved very
effective. After filtration, contamination level almost comes down
to zero, said the experts studying the filters at field level.

"We want to find a meaningful, practical and cost-effective solution
to the arsenic problem," said Nasrin R Karim, director general of an
NGO Earth Identity Project that organised the roundtable
titled 'Dhaka Water': Policy, Strategy, and Dialogue.

During the briefing session, Unicef officials informed that out of
464 upazilas, 265 have been identified as 'hot spots' where more
than 60 percent tubewell water is contaminated.

"Epidemiology of the arsenic is still uncertain. In same family one
member is seen to have serious effect from drinking contaminated
water while others drinking from the same source have no effect at
all," they added. "It is not understood yet but we have a big
challenge ahead," said Naseem-ur-Rahman, chief of information and
advocacy section of Unicef.

Paul Edwards, head of water and sanitation of Unicef, Dr Han
Heijnen, head of environment department of WHO, Enayetullah Khan,
editor of the New Age, Khoda Bux, director of Bangladesh Arsenic
Mitigation Water Supply Project and Unicef officials from West
Bengal spoke at the roundtable supported by Embassy of Finland,
Unicef and DFID. The roundtable was a follow up of the roundtable
titled 'Arsenic Crisis Today-Strategy for Tomorrow' held in July,
2001.


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[From the free email newsletter SOURCE WATER AND SANITATION WEEKLY.
See website http://www.irc.nl/source ]

ARGENTINA: arsenic afflicting provincial water supplies

Dangerous levels of arsenic in drinking water are are having a
devastating effect on the health of the people of Chaco province,
parts of the northwest provinces of Tucuman and Salta, and the
central provinces of Cordoba and La Pampa. In all cases, the high
levels have been found in water drawn from underground sources, says
Myrta Ryczel, spokesperson of the health protection and promotion
agency. To date, efforts to remove the arsenic have failed. Aluminum
salts were tried, but with little success, Ryczel says. Tucuman
province is experimenting with other metallic salts and results have
been more encouraging, she adds. Reverse osmosis is the most
effective method of removing arsenic from water but is expensive,
according to the Chlorine Chemistry Council [1] representative
Jeffrey Sloan. At a household level, filters which use flocculants
to make the arsenic particles coagulate in the water are also
effective. Technically there is no reason why arsenic cannot be
removed from water, but the funding has to be in place.

[1] CCC is a business council of the American Chemistry Council,
based in Arlington, USA

See also: Arsenic remediation technologies: online informational
database by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
http://www.mit.edu/people/murcott/arsenic/database.html

(BNamericas.com (subscription site), 12 May 2004,
http://www.bnamericas.com/sector.xsql?id_sector=4&Tx_idioma=I)


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[From the free email newsletter SOURCE WATER AND SANITATION WEEKLY.
See website http://www.irc.nl/source ]

LESSONS LEARNED – Arsenic exposure has effect on children's
intellectual function, Bangladesh

A new study [1] reveals a strong association between arsenic
exposure from contaminated wells and intelligence in children in
Bangladesh. The results adds urgency to the need for effective
remediation in Bangladesh and other regions of south Asia where
consumption of arsenic contaminated water is prevalent.

Exposure to arsenic (As) has long been known to have neurological
consequences in adults, although to date there are no well-
controlled studies in children. The study reports results of a cross-
sectional investigation of intellectual function in 201 ten year-old
children of parents who participated in an ongoing prospective
cohort study examining health effects of arsenic exposure in 12,000
residents of Araihazar, Bangladesh.

Children's intellectual function on tests drawn from the Wechsler
Intelligence Scale for Children-III (WISC-III) was assessed by
summing weighted items across domains to create Verbal, Performance
and Full Scale raw scores. Children provided urine specimens for
measuring urinary As and creatinine, and were asked to provide blood
samples for measuring blood lead and hemoglobin concentrations.

Exposure to As from drinking water was associated with reduced
intellectual function after adjustment for sociodemographic
covariates and water manganese(MN). Water arsenic was associated
with reduced intellectual function, in a dose-response fashion, such
that children with water As > 50 µg/L achieved significantly lower
Performance and Full Scale scores than children with water As < 5.5
µg/L. The association was generally stronger for well water As than
for urinary As.

[1] Wasserman, G.A. <...> et al. (2004). Water arsenic exposure and
children's intellectual function in Araihazar, Bangladesh.
Environmental Health Perspectives, http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.6964

See also: Child health: repeated bouts of diarrhoea affect IQ,
Source, 12 Jan 2004, http://www.irc.nl/content/view/full/7703

Contact: Dr. Gail A. Wasserman, Department of Psychiatry, College of
Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York City, NY
10032, USA, mailto:wassermg@...


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[ http://highwire.stanford.edu/cgi/medline/pmid;15138027 ]

MP Waalkes, J Liu, JM Ward, and BA Diwan. Mechanisms underlying
arsenic carcinogenesis: hypersensitivity of mice exposed to
inorganic arsenic during gestation. Toxicology 20 May 2004 198(1-
3): p. 31.

Abstract: Inorganic arsenic is an important human carcinogen of
unknown etiology. Defining carcinogenic mechanisms is critical to
assessing the human health hazard of arsenic exposure but requires
appropriate model systems. It has proven difficult to induced
tumors in animals with inorganic arsenic alone. Several groups have
studied the carcinogenic potential of inorganic arsenic in rodents,
finding it to act as co-promoter or co-carcinogen, but not as a
complete carcinogen. As gestation is a time of high sensitivity to
chemical carcinogenesis, we performed two in utero exposure studies
with inorganic arsenic. In the first study, pregnant mice received
drinking water containing sodium arsenite at 0 (control), 42.5 and
85ppm arsenic from gestation day 8 to 18, and the offspring were
observed for up to 90weeks. As adults, male offspring developed
hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and adrenal tumors after in utero
arsenite exposure. Although liver tumors were not induced by
arsenic in female offspring, they did develop lung carcinoma,
ovarian tumors, and uterine and oviduct preneoplasia. In a second
study, the same doses of arsenic were used and the skin tumor
promoting phorbol ester, TPA, was applied to the skin after birth in
an effort to promote skin tumors potentially initiated by arsenic in
utero. TPA did not promote dermal tumors after in utero arsenite
exposure. Otherwise, results from the second chronic study largely
duplicated the first and, irrespective of additional TPA exposure,
arsenic exposure in utero induced HCC and adrenal tumors in males
and ovarian tumors in females. In addition, combined arsenic and
TPA induced a significant increase in hepatocellular tumors in
female offspring, although arsenic alone was not effective. Thus,
in utero inorganic arsenic exposure can act as a complete carcinogen
in mice, with brief exposures consistently inducing tumors at
several sites. In addition, it appears gestational arsenic can act
as a tumor initiator in the female mouse liver, inducing liver
lesions that can be promoted by TPA.

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[ http://highwire.stanford.edu/cgi/medline/pmid;15138028 ]

AH Smith and MM Smith. Arsenic drinking water regulations in
developing countries with extensive exposure…Toxicology 20 May 2004
198(1-3): p. 39.

Abstract: The United States Public Health Service set an interim
standard of 50microg/l in 1942, but as early as 1962 the US Public
Health Service had identified 10microg/l as a goal which later
became the World Health Organization Guideline for drinking water in
1992. Epidemiological studies have shown that about one in 10
people drinking water containing 500microg/l of arsenic over many
years may die from internal cancers attributable to arsenic, with
lung cancer being the surprising main contributor. A prudent public
health response is to reduce the permissible drinking water arsenic
concentrations. However, the appropriate regulatory response in
those developing countries with large populations with much higher
concentrations of arsenic in drinking water, often exceeding
100microg/l, is more complex. Malnutrition may increase risks from
arsenic. There is mounting evidence that smoking and arsenic act
synergistically in causing lung cancer, and smoking raises issues of
public health priorities in developing countries that face massive
mortality from this product. Also, setting stringent drinking water
standards will impede short term solutions such as shallow
dugwells. Developing countries with large populations exposed to
arsenic in water might reasonably be advised to keep their arsenic
drinking water standards at 50microg/l.
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[ http://highwire.stanford.edu/cgi/medline/pmid;15142763 ]

G Samanta, R Sharma, T Roychowdhury, and D Chakraborti. Arsenic and
other elements in hair, nails, and skin-scales of arsenic victims in
West Bengal, India. Sci Total Environ 29 Jun 2004 326(1-3): p. 33.

Abstract: For the first time, biological tissues (hair, nails, and
skin-scales) of arsenic victims from an arsenic affected area of
West Bengal (WB), India were analyzed for trace elements. Analysis
was carried out by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-
MS) for 10 elements (As, Se, Hg, Zn, Pb, Ni, Cd, Mn, Cu, and Fe). A
microwave digester was used for digestion of the tissue samples. To
validate the method, certified reference materials-human hair (GBW
07601) and bovine muscle (CRM 8414)-were analyzed for all elements.
The W test was used to study the normal/log normal distribution for
each element in the tissue samples. For hair (n=44) and nails
(n=33), all elements show log-normal distribution. For skin-scale
samples (n=11), data are not sufficient to provide the information
about the trend. Geometric mean, standard error, and range for each
element were presented and compared with literature values for other
populations. This study reveals the higher levels of toxic elements
As, Mn, Pb, and Ni in the tissue samples compared with available
values in the literature. The elevated levels of these toxic metals
in the tissues may be due to exposure of these elements through
drinking water and food. The correlations of Mn and Ni with other
essential elements, e.g. Fe, Cu, Zn, suggest that Mn and Ni may
substitute for those elements in hair, nails, and skin-scales.
However, correlation represents the relation between two elements
only and does not take into consideration of the presence of other
elements. Principle component analysis was applied to explain the
behavior among the elements present in hair and nails. This study
reveals that in the arsenic-affected areas of WB, the concentrations
of other toxic elements in drinking water and foodstuff should be
monitored to evaluate the arsenic poisoning.


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[ http://highwire.stanford.edu/cgi/medline/pmid;15144789 ]

T Dittmar. Hydrochemical processes controlling arsenic and heavy
metal contamination in the Elqui river system (Chile). Sci Total
Environ 5 Jun 2004 325(1-3): p. 193.

Abstract: Severe arsenic poisoning from drinking water has been
documented in Northern Chile. However, the Elqui River, which
provides water for approximately 200000 people in this region, is
poorly studied and no data on contaminants have been published to
date. In this study, trace elements and the main aqueous
constituents were monitored for approximately 2 years in the entire
river system. Aqueous species of trace elements were determined via
thermodynamic equilibrium calculations, and two operationally-
defined suspended fractions were analyzed. Chalco- and arsenopyrite
deposits in the upper Andes, in conjunction with mining and
geothermal activity, were identified as exclusive point sources of
heavy metals and arsenic. The annual input to the river system was
approximately (t year(-1)): Fe 600, Mn 110, Cu 130, Zn 35 and As
2.0. The confluence with pH-buffered waters in the upper river
system caused collapse of iron hydroxide colloids and
coprecipitation of all heavy metals, e.g. dissolved copper
concentrations decreased from approximately 100 to approximately 0.2
micromol l(-1), which is still of ecotoxic concern. The heavy metal
enriched suspended solids settled only in the lower Elqui River.
Arsenate did not adsorb to suspended solids and behaved strictly
conservatively, exceeding the WHO guideline value for drinking water
(0.13 micromol l(-1)) in the entire river system. Decontamination
may be accomplished with reasonable efforts upstream in direct
vicinity to the sources via coprecipitation, settling and
appropriate pH adjustment for arsenate adsorption.


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[ http://highwire.stanford.edu/cgi/medline/pmid;15138026 ]

Y Xia and J Liu. An overview on chronic arsenism via drinking water
in PR China. Toxicology 20 May 2004 198(1-3): p. 25.

Abstract: Chronic endemic arsenism via drinking water was first
found in Taiwan in 1968, and reported in Xinjiang Province in
mainland China in the 1980s. Arsenism has become one of the most
serious endemic diseases in China in the last two decades. Up to
now, the disease has been found in Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Ningxia,
Jilin and Qinghai provinces. According to the Chinese maximum limit
standard of arsenic (As) in drinking water, over 2 millions people
have been exposed to high arsenic and about 10,000 persons were
diagnosed as arsenism patients. There are different As
concentrations in the water of different sites, even in the same
area. Most of the As concentrations range from 0.05 to 2.0mg/l.
The incidence of arsenism increases as As concentrations in drinking
water and the drinking time increase. The age distribution of
patients with arsenism ranged from 3 to 80 years old with peak
prevalence in adults. A dose-effect relationship between the status
of arsenism and arsenic level and drinking time has been shown. New
high-arsenic areas in China have been discovered during recent
investigations. In order to reduce the adverse health effects of
arsenism, the central and local governments of China have provided
significant funds to change water levels of As and at the same time
take general measures to "reduce arsenic intake, remove arsenic from
the body and treat the patients". After the implementation of these
control measures in certain regions, the clinical symptoms and signs
of 30% of the patients were improved. There was no change in 52% of
patients and only 18% of patients got worse. It is suggested that
future work in the research and control of arsenism in China should
include: (1) identify all the high arsenic areas in China, (2) study
the association of arsenism with fluorosis, (3) determine individual
susceptibility, (4) select biomarkers for diagnosis in the early
stage of a arsenism, and (5) investigate the molecular mechanisms of
carcinogenesis.