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Common valence states

As⁰ 

As³⁺

As⁵⁺

As^3-

metalloid arsenic

such as arsenites

such as arsenates

such as arsine gas

Examples of organic arsenicals

(CH3)₂AsO(OH)

CH₃AsO(ONa)₂

C₇H₉AsN₂O₄

cacodylic acid (dimethylarsinic acid)

disodium methylarsenate (DSMA)

carbasone

Examples of inorganic arsenicals

H₃AsO₄

Na₂HAsO₄

NaAsO₂

arsenic acid

disodium arsenate

sodium arsenite

Commercial products

• antifouling paints
• cattle and sheep dips
• cotton desiccants
• fire salts (multicolored flame)
• fungicides
• herbicides (weed killers and defoliants)
• insecticides
• leaded gasoline
• paints and pigments
• wood preservatives

Industrial processes

• bronze plating
• clarifying glass and ceramics
• electronics manufacturing
  • microwave devices
  • lasers
  • light-emitting diodes
  • photoelectric cells, and
  • semiconductor devices
• hardening metal alloys
• preserving animal hides
• purifying industrial gases (removal of sulfur)

Medicines and remedies

• Antiparasitic drugs (carbasone - C₇H₉AsN₂O₄)
• Donovan's solution (arsenic triiodide - AsI₃)
• Folk remedies ("Asiatic pill," kushtay, yellow root)
• Fowler's solution (1% solution of potassium arsenite – [K₃AsO₃])
• Kelp-containing health foods
• Some naturopathic remedies

Food/Wine

• The estimated average daily dietary intake of total arsenic by adults in the United States is 50 milligrams per day.
  • Meat, fish, and poultry account for 80% of dietary arsenic intake.
  • Fish, seafood, and algae also contain high concentrations of arsenic in the form of arsenobetaine and arsenocholine, sometimes referred to as "fish arsenic."
    • Fish arsenic has low toxicity to humans and is rapidly excreted in urine.
  • Wine produced in vineyards that were sprayed with arsenic-containing pesticides may have appreciable levels of arsenic.

Smoke

• Smokers may inhale small amounts of arsenic because of past application of arsenic-containing pesticides on tobacco leaves.

Drinking Water

• Exposure to arsenic in drinking water is a problem in some regions of the United States, Mexico, India, and regions of Asia.
• Well water contaminated by natural sources such as arsenic-containing bedrock has been reported to be the leading cause of arsenic toxicity throughout the world, including areas of the United States.
• The areas in the United States with the highest natural groundwater concentrations of arsenic are New England, the Southwest, the Northwest, Alaska, and areas near geothermal activity.
• Groundwater may contain elevated concentrations of arsenic due to contamination from runoff of arsenic-containing pesticides from past use.
• Arsenic has been detected in both surface water and groundwater, at average concentrations of 40 and 47 parts per billion (ppb), respectively, in about 15% of hazardous waste sites studied by ATSDR.

Cancer

• Arsenic is known to cause cancer in humans.
• Ingested inorganic arsenic is strongly associated with lung and skin cancers and may cause other cancers in organs such as the bladder, kidneys, and liver.
• Skin cancer associated with eating or drinking of inorganic arsenic may take more than 1 year to develop; noncarcinogenic skin effects typically develop weeks or months after exposure.
• The number of deaths among workers exposed by inhalation to inorganic arsenic increases with the duration and intensity of exposure.

Cardiovascular

• Acute arsenic poisoning may cause internal bleeding (diffuse capillary leak) and inflammation of the heart (cardiomyopathy), resulting in shock.
• Long-term ingestion of arsenic in drinking water has resulted in pronounced changes in blood vessels outside the heart and brain.

Gastrointestinal

• Seen primarily after acute and short-term arsenic ingestion.

Kidneys

• Acute poisoning may cause renal failure.

Liver

• Eating or drinking of inorganic arsenic may kill liver cells and elevate levels of liver enzymes.

Neurological

• Arsenic-exposure can destroy a person’s nerve cells, leading to nervous system disorders (peripheral neuropathy).

Pulmonary

• Lung cancer deaths among exposed workers increase with their duration and intensity of exposure.

Reproductive

• Increased frequency of spontaneous abortions and congenital malformations has been linked to arsenic exposure.

Respiratory

• Inhaling high concentrations of arsenic compounds irritates the lining of the nose, throat, and lungs.

Hematologic

• Bone marrow depression (an inability to make certain blood cells) may result from arsenic poisoning and may first appear as a shortage of all types of blood cells.
  • Note: Unlike other forms of arsenic, arsine gas causes a hemolytic syndrome (destruction of red blood cells.)

Skin

• Pigment changes and thickening of the skin on hands and feet (palmoplantar hyperkeratosis) are characteristic of chronic (long term) arsenic exposure.
• Skin cancer associated with eating or drinking arsenic may take 30 to 40 years to develop.
• Noncarcinogenic skin effects typically develop several years after exposure.
• Skin thickening caused by arsenic may later become malignant.

Air

• Arsenic is listed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a hazardous air pollutant (HAP).
  • HAPs are substances that may increase mortality or serious illness in humans after significant exposure.
• EPA National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants limit emissions of inorganic arsenic from
  • primary copper smelters
  • glass-manufacturing plants
  • arsenic plants
• However, there is no ambient federal air standard for arsenic.

Drinking water

• The EPA Office of Drinking Water has set a maximum contaminant level (MCL) for arsenic in drinking water of 10 ppb.
• The World Health Organization recommends a provisional drinking water guideline of 10 ppb (0.01 mg/L) as a practical limit.

Food

• The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has established tolerance levels for arsenic in by-products of animals treated with veterinary drugs. These permissible levels range
  • from 0.5 parts per million (ppm) in eggs and uncooked edible tissues of chickens and turkeys
  • to 2 ppm in certain uncooked edible by-products of pigs and others.

Pesticides

• EPA began to phase out household ant poisons containing sodium arsenate in 1989 because of the danger of ingestion by small children.
• EPA also cancelled all registered uses of inorganic arsenic for nonwood preservative purposes.
• Pressure-treated wood with chromium-copper-arsenic (CCA) has been phased out for residential use.

Environmental fate

• Additional quantitative data on the rates of oxidation, reduction, and biotransformation reactions of arsenic compounds, and how these depend on environmental conditions would help in evaluating and predicting the fate and transport of arsenic at hazardous waste sites and other areas.

Bioavailability from environmental media

• Further data would be useful to establish whether arsenic uptake occurs from contact with contaminated soil or water, since these routes near hazardous waste sites may expose humans.

Food chain bioaccumulation

• Further research on the uptake of arsenic by plants in a wide range of arsenic-polluted sites (e.g., mining areas, orchards previously treated with lead arsenate) would be valuable in assessing human exposure near such sites from eating vegetables from home gardens.

Exposure levels in environmental media

• Additional monitoring studies that include identification of arsenic species would allow more precise estimation of current exposure levels and possible human health risks.
• Reliable monitoring data for the levels of arsenic in contaminated media at hazardous waste sites are needed. Information obtained on levels of arsenic in the environment could be used in combination with the known body burdens of arsenic to assess the potential risk of adverse health effects in people living near hazardous waste sites.

Exposures of children

• Additional studies, including investigations of unique pathways for exposures of children and the amount of soil a child ingests, would provide valuable data.
• Studies are needed to assess whether children are different in their weight-adjusted intake of arsenic.

ATSDR

• Case Studies in Environmental Medicine (CSEM): Arsenic toxicity
  http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/csem/arsenic/
• Interaction profile for arsenic, cadmium, chromium and lead
  http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/interactionprofiles/ip04.html
• Interaction Profile for Arsenic, Hydrazines, Jet Fuels, Strontium-90, and Trichloroethylene
  http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/interactionprofiles/ip04.html
• Medical management guidelines (MMGs) for arsenic trioxide
  http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/MHMI/mmg168.html
• Medical management guidelines (MMGs) for arsine
  http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/MHMI/mmg169.html
• Public Health Statement (PHS): Arsenic
  http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxprofiles/phs2.html
• ToxFAQs™: Arsenic
  http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/tfacts2.html
• Toxicological profile for arsenic
  http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxprofiles/tp2.html

EPA

• Arsenic in drinking water
  http://www.epa.gov/safewater/arsenic/

MedlinePlus

• Arsenic
  http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/arsenic.html

OSHA

• Safety and health topics: Arsenic
  http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/arsenic

USGS

• Arsenic in ground-water resources of the United States
  http://water.usgs.gov/nawqa/trace/pubs/fs-063-00/