A huge fascination of arsenic started in the 19th century when people got word of a province in southeastern Austria where people ate arsenic. Women would eat arsenic to help gain weight and fix their complexion to look more beautiful and men would eat arsenic because they believed it helped them breath easier when they were climbing high up in the mountains. One doctor by the name of Dr. Robert Craig MacLagan, was particularly interested in this and visited the town to see for himself what was really occurring. He observed the people and tested their urine to prove that they have been indeed ingesting arsenic. He wrote about the things he witnessed in the Edinburgh Medical Journal. The men in the town would eat 6 grains/dose at least twice a week, sometimes eating it on their bread or just drinking it with their water. As a result many Victorians began self-medicating themselves with arsenic.
The first time that a limit was set on arsenic levels in drinking water to 50 µg/L was in 1942. The EPA did not officially acknowledge this standard until 1975. In 1993 the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended that the drinking water standard be lowered to 10 µg/L. Seven years later in 2000, the FDA approved the used of arsenic trioxide for leukemia chemotherapy. Finally, in 2001 the EPA officially lowered the arsenic drinking water standard to 10 µg/L.
Sources of Exposure
Arsenic is the 20th most common element in the earth’s crust and can be found naturally in our environment. There is around 0.006 to 0.03 ppm or arsenic distributed in seawater, and 20 ppm of arsenic in soil (before pesticides). Every human will ingest about 0.5 to 1 mg of arsenic in a day from food and water, because arsenic is present in higher quantities in se...
... middle of paper ...
...norganic form. The glutathione conjugation has proven to excrete arsenic compounds from inside the cell. Most arsenicals are conjugated with GSH in the liver and transported outside the cells. However, in some cases it cannot be said for certain if GSH is conjugated with certain arsenicals enzymatically or non-enzymatically. GSH reduces arsenate to arsenite and arsenite is then complexed. Its suggested that As(III) can be regulated by the presence of GSH. Glutathione S-transferase-omega (GSTO) is another compound under scrutiny because it is believed that this compound assists in the formation of arsenic-glutathione conjugates. Recent studies have focused on AS3MT as one of the main enzymes involved in the metabolism of inorganic arsenic because it may be used to convert iAs to MMAV and DMAV. However, in some cases it has been seen that AS3MT is inhibited by As(III)
In chapter 8 titled "Radium (Ra)" of The Poisoner's Handbook by Deborah Blum, the most interesting story developed within this chapter was the death of dial workers at Orange, New Jersey after been exposed to radium every day. It was interesting due to the fact that radium was used everywhere in the community and was never thought it could harm anyone. Radium was a super element that was used everywhere, but its continuous use unmasked its fatal habits. As it was stated in the text, "Radiant health, the ads proclaimed-beautiful skin, endless vigor, and eternal health—ingesting radium seemed the next best thing to drinking sunlight." (Blum 179). People were accepting radium as a natural gold element but they haven't realized constant contact
Regulations are created to protect the health and welfare of the public. The United States EPA develops the regulations at a federal level and each state’s EPA has the ability to make regulations pertaining to their state. The criteria for a state’s individual regulation are that it must be at least as strict as the federal regulation. The purpose of this paper is to examine the general requirements of the Lead and Copper Rule (with attention on the lead aspect) mandated to protect drinking water on the federal and state level.
On December 22, 2008 in Roane County, Tennessee, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) Kingston Fossil Plant had a dike rupture releasing more the 5.4 million cubic yards of coal ash into the Emory River. There were no recorded deaths or serious injuries , but the surrounding ecosystem was affected severely. The ash slurry contained heavy metals such as arsenic, barium, chromium, mercury, nickel and many more, all of which were released directly into water the ways. Preliminary tests of drinking water showed that the toxins did not affect it, however later individual organizations tests show high amounts of arsenic and other toxins in the water. Officials say that the discrepancy is due to original water test being done before the polluted water had a chance to reach Tennessee Valley Authority, water treatment plant. Authorities claim that the reason for the dam failure was due to the high rain fall and subzero temperatures. However, local residents are saying that they’d observed leakages ever since the plant was opened, as well as...
6) Kerr, D., Ward, M., Ellis, H., Simpson, W. Aluminum Intoxication in Renal Disease. CIBA-Found-Symposium, 169: 123-41 (1992).
The proposed research will identify gene expression traits of breast cancer cells chronically exposed to arsenic during different periods of exposure. These results will allow us to develop gene profiles and identify arsenic-associated genes. By identifying arsenic-associated genes, we can determine if these genes are involved in molecular functions and biological processes. This study can assist future studies of mammary tumors with elevated arsenic levels and will provide insight into breast cancer progression due to the accumulation of arsenic. Our proposed research will demonstrate the impact of arsenic on the estrogen receptor and on breast cancer carcinogenesis. We hope this study will highlight the importance of studying the effects of prolonged arsenic exposure on breast cancer.
Iyengar, G. Venkatesh. Elemental Analysis of Biological Systems: Biological, Medical, Environmental, Compositional, and Methodological Aspects. Vol. 1. CRC Press, 1989.
When we think about dreams, we try our best to achieve them. What we don't think about is that dream being unsuccessful or being deferred. People might use metaphors such as, it stinks like rotten meat, or dries up like a raisin in the sun to explain what a deferred dream means . The play “A Raisin in the Sun” is a perfect example of someone's dream being deferred. The movie, following closely to the play, portrays the same idea. There are many similarities between the play and the movie. The people are the same, along with many scenes and occurrences. Both movie and play provide the same concept and message, while differing in some of the events.
In the past, poisoning was one of the most popular forms of murder. There are countless natural substances in the world that when ingested into the body in high doses, can become lethal to the human body. What made this form of murder so famous is that most poisons mimic common medical diseases, leading physicians to believe a victim died of natural causes (Ramsland, n.d.). Aside from murder, this forensic discipline is also essential for determining accidental deaths and suicides. As stated earlier, forensic toxicology is the examination of toxic substances in human tissues, organs, and body fluids that may have contributed or caused death to an individual (Tilstone, Savage, Clark,
Thus, the government and community should take the above steps on an urgent basis to reduce and manage the alarming proportions of water pollution in Texas that causes cancer and other dangerous diseases and make drinking water safe.
2 Apr. 2014. The 'Standard' of the 'Standard'. http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005202>. Pure Water Gazette. N.p., n.d. Web.
Most people in America find themselves drinking a nice glass of water that has a clean and refreshing taste to it. Most people do not have the privilege of drinking safe water. Contaminated drinking water has been linked to illnesses and deaths within the United States each year. We can solve this problem by finding new ways to clean water such as filtration and using diluted chlorine. Using these methods can lead to a much healthier way of living for those who suffer from contaminated drinking water in the United States. Contaminated water can be classified as water that contains pathogens, mercury, and even arsenic.
Lead is considered to be a toxic heavy metal. It occurs naturally in the Earth’s crust. However, it tends to combine with other elements to form lead compounds. (Registry, 2011). Moreover, it has no known function in the body and with excess accumulation, either acute or chronic, will cause a wide array of metabolic dysfunctions by interfering with normal metabolic functions (Analytical Research Laboratories, 2012). From a historical standpoint, most human beings if not all have accumulated some lead in their bodies over the course of their daily lives. In extreme cases, that is, when there is too much lead in the body it is known to cause lead poisoning. In order to fully understand this phenomenon, one must first acknowledge; how lead enters the body, how it is distributed, and how and if it is eliminated.
However, when the pH levels reach a certain stage, the iron can then precipitate out, coating sediments with the characteristic yellow, red or orange colourings (D.E.P. 2, 2002; U.S.G.S. ; U.S.E.P.A., 2002). The rate that A.M.D. advances is also influenced by the presence of certain bacteria (Doyle; U.S.G.S). A.M.D. that has dissolved heavy metals such as copper, lead and mercury can contaminate ground and surface water.
Hippocrates' authority lasted throughout the Middle Ages and reminded alchemists and medical experimenters of the potential of inorganic drugs. In fact, a distant descendant of Hippocrates' prescriptions was the use of antimony salts in elixirs (alcoholic solutions) advocated by Basilius Valentius in the middle of the 15th century and by the medical alchemist Phillippus Aureolus Paracelsus (born Theophrastus Bombast von Hohenheim, in Switzerland, 1493-1541).