Arsenic geochemistry and human health in South East Asia
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Kathleen M. McCarty
Abstract
Arsenic occurs naturally in many environmental components and enters the human body through several exposure pathways. Natural enrichment of arsenic may result in considerable contamination of soil, water, and air. Arsenic in groundwater can exceed values hundreds of time higher than the concentration recommended for drinking water. Such exposure levels indicate a serious potential health risk to individuals consuming raw groundwater. Human activities that have an impact on the environment may increase the distribution of inorganic arsenic. Abandoned mines are of great concern due to the extremely high arsenic concentrations detected in mine drainage and tailings. Diet, drinking water, air, soil, and occupational exposures are all sources of inorganic arsenic for humans. Interdisciplinary efforts to better characterize the transport of arsenic and reactants that facilitate their release to the environment are important for human health studies. Multi-disciplinary efforts are needed to study diet, infectious disease, genetics, and cultural practices unique to each region to better understand human health risk and to design public health interventions.
©2011 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin New York
Articles in the same Issue
- Editorials
- Letter from the Editor: Introducing our new publisher
- Environmental exposures in the era of climate change
- Reviews
- Health impacts of climate change and biosecurity in the Asian Pacific region
- Exposures to lead
- The status of water and sanitation among Pacific Rim nations
- Hazardous waste in the Asian Pacific region
- Emerging issues in the Pacific Basin
- Baseline determination in social, health, and genetic areas in communities affected by glyphosate aerial spraying on the northeastern Ecuadorian border
- Air pollution: a tale of two countries
- Health effects of persistent organic pollutants: the challenge for the Pacific Basin and for the world
- Arsenic geochemistry and human health in South East Asia
Articles in the same Issue
- Editorials
- Letter from the Editor: Introducing our new publisher
- Environmental exposures in the era of climate change
- Reviews
- Health impacts of climate change and biosecurity in the Asian Pacific region
- Exposures to lead
- The status of water and sanitation among Pacific Rim nations
- Hazardous waste in the Asian Pacific region
- Emerging issues in the Pacific Basin
- Baseline determination in social, health, and genetic areas in communities affected by glyphosate aerial spraying on the northeastern Ecuadorian border
- Air pollution: a tale of two countries
- Health effects of persistent organic pollutants: the challenge for the Pacific Basin and for the world
- Arsenic geochemistry and human health in South East Asia
