Arsenic News and Research

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Arsenic is a naturally occurring element widely distributed in the earth’s crust. In the environment, arsenic is combined with oxygen, chlorine, and sulfur to form inorganic arsenic compounds. Arsenic in animals and plants combines with carbon and hydrogen to form organic arsenic compounds.

Breathing high levels of inorganic arsenic can give you a sore throat or irritated lungs.

Ingesting very high levels of arsenic can result in death. Exposure to lower levels can cause nausea and vomiting, decreased production of red and white blood cells, abnormal heart rhythm, damage to blood vessels, and a sensation of “pins and needles” in hands and feet.

Ingesting or breathing low levels of inorganic arsenic for a long time can cause a darkening of the skin and the appearance of small “corns” or “warts” on the palms, soles, and torso.

Scientists find link between soil metals and cancer mortality

Spanish epidemiologists and geologists have found associations between esophageal cancer and soils where lead is abundant, lung cancer and terrains with increased copper content, brain tumor with areas rich in arsenic, and bladder cancer with high cadmium levels.

20 Apr 2018

UIC researchers examine how arsenic affects development of diabetes

A five-year, $2.7 million grant from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences will help researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago answer basic questions about the role of arsenic in the development of diabetes and examine the mechanisms by which selenoproteins - found in the human body in 25 different forms - counter the effects of arsenic.

9 Mar 2018

Scientists find significant amounts of toxic metals in e-cigarette vapors

Significant amounts of toxic metals, including lead, leak from some e-cigarette heating coils and are present in the aerosols inhaled by users, according to a study from scientists at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

22 Feb 2018

Indigenous people exposed to oil spills have harmful metal contaminants in their body, study finds

People from two indigenous communities in the Peruvian Amazon who live close to the country's longest oil pipeline have mercury, cadmium and lead in their bodies at concentrations that could be harmful to their health.

11 Feb 2018

German researchers find way to accurately differentiate prostate cancer from benign tissue

Using nuclear medicine, German researchers have found a way to accurately differentiate cancerous tissue from healthy tissue in prostate cancer patients. The research is highlighted in the February issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine.

6 Feb 2018

Cannabis Quality and Contamination Testing

Dr. Bob Clifford has published and presented over 125 papers in the fields of food, pharmaceutical, environmental, energy, geology, material science, photonics, and cannabis. However, his true love is in food. After graduating with his Ph.D., he left his job with the FDA for Shimadzu where he has worked for the last 26 years.

From Pittcon 5 Feb 2018

Cancer risk can be reduced with unique regulations for water treatment

Dr. Megan Rockafellow-Baldoni, Rutgers School of Public Health alum and Center for Public Health Workforce Development program coordinator, has found a reduction in the risk of cancer due to arsenic exposure in Hopewell Township (Mercer County), New Jersey with use of arsenic treatment systems. Arsenic exists in varying levels in all parts of New Jersey; chronic exposure can increase rates of bladder, lung, liver, kidney, and skin cancers.

31 Jan 2018

Chronic exposure to arsenic may increase risk of diabetes, study reveals

A new study reports that chronic exposure to arsenic interferes with insulin secretion in the pancreas, which may increase the risk of diabetes.

10 Jan 2018

Sleeping sickness actually caused by acceleration of biological clocks

Sleeping sickness could use a more encompassing moniker. An international study from the O'Donnell Brain Institute shows one of Africa's most lethal diseases is actually a circadian rhythm disorder caused by the acceleration of biological clocks controlling a range of vital functions besides sleep.

4 Jan 2018

Men who tan tend to do it in riskier ways, study finds

Even though men use tanning beds at lower rates than women, men who tan tend to do it in riskier ways, according to a study by researchers at the University of Connecticut. The findings should help public health officials rethink how, and to whom, they're targeting anti-tanning messages.

2 Nov 2017

Arsenic found in infant and toddler food

A latest study has uncovered a scary fact – nearly 80 percent of infant formulas and baby foods have tested positive for Arsenic content.

27 Oct 2017

Researchers provide evidence of increase in cancer decades after arsenic exposure ends

A new paper published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute shows that arsenic in drinking water may have one of the longest dormancy periods of any carcinogen.

24 Oct 2017

Research shows role of federal drinking water regulations in reducing arsenic exposure

New research conducted at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health found that exposure to arsenic in drinking water was significantly reduced among Americans using public water systems following the Environmental Protection Agency regulation on maximum levels of arsenic.

23 Oct 2017

Arsenic trioxide could be powerful therapy to extend lives of certain glioblastoma patients

From Sherlock Holmes to Agatha Christie, arsenic is often the poison of choice in popular whodunits. But in ultra-low dosage, and in the right form, this naturally occurring chemical element can be a potent force against cancer.

17 Oct 2017

NAU establishes new research center to address health disparities across Southwest

A region of vast expanses and unparalleled natural beauty, the southwestern United States is a land of harsh socioeconomic realities for many, especially for underserved Native American and Hispanic populations.

13 Oct 2017

Two MSU researchers team up to tackle problem of arsenic poisoning

Two Montana State University researchers in different disciplines have teamed up to tackle the problem of arsenic poisoning, which is estimated by the World Health Organization to affect more than 100 million people worldwide, primarily through tainted drinking water.

4 Oct 2017

Manganese in underground drinking water can be harmful to human health

Underground drinking water sources in parts of the U.S. and three Asian countries may not be as safe as previously thought due to high levels of manganese, especially at shallow depths, according to a study led by a researcher at the University of California, Riverside.

24 Aug 2017

Indus Valley ground water in Pakistan shows alarmingly high levels of arsenic

Analysis of water supplies in Pakistan has shown abnormally high levels of Arsenic putting 60 million residents at risk of Arsenic poisoning. The study evaluated and analyzed around 1,200 groundwater quality samples from various parts of the country. Over the Indus plain the results show levels of Arsenic that are way above the World Health Organization (WHO) safety guidelines’ recommendations. The study was published in the journal, Science Advances.

23 Aug 2017

New Global Burden of Disease study estimates vast impact of asthma and COPD

Latest global estimates illustrate the vast impact of the two most common chronic respiratory diseases, with 3.2 million deaths from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and 0.4 million deaths caused by asthma in 2015, according to a new Global Burden of Disease study published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine journal.

18 Aug 2017

Lead detected in 20% of baby food samples, surprising even researchers

Pediatricians and public health researchers know they have to be on the lookout for lead exposure from paint chips and contaminated drinking water. A new report suggests food — particularly baby food — could be a problem, too.

16 Jun 2017