Arsenic is a naturally occurring element and, as such, it is present in the environment and in our food and drink. It can even be involved in supporting life processes. However, due to its toxicity, there is concern about its presence in our diet. This book examines the real risks and impacts of arsenic in our lives. Looking at arsenic and its compounds, this book explores the presence of arsenic in food and water, the need to clarify its toxicity, and current scientific and public misconceptions about arsenic. It also looks at the use of arsenic in medicine, from cancer treatments to alternative therapies such as homeopathy. Following on from "Is Arsenic an Aphrodisiac?: The Sociochemistry of an Element", this book continues the authors work in addressing the issues surrounding arsenic. It is a fascinating read for general readers as it unveils the reality of our exposure to arsenic in our daily lives.

Having safe drinking water is important to all Americans. The Environmental Protection Agency's decision in the summer of 2001 to delay implementing a new, more stringent standard for the maximum allowable level for arsenic in drinking water generated a great deal of criticism and controversy. Ultimately at issue were newer data on arsenic beyond those that had been examined in a 1999 National Research Council report. EPA asked the National Research Council for an evaluation of the new data available. The committee's analyses and conclusions are presented in Arsenic in Drinking Water: 2001 Update. New epidemiological studies are critically evaluated, as are new experimental data that provide information on how and at what level arsenic in drinking water can lead to cancer. The report's findings are consistent with those of the 1999 report that found high risks of cancer at the previous federal standard of 50 parts per billion. In fact, the new report concludes that men and women who consume water containing 3 parts per billion of arsenic daily have about a 1 in 1,000 increased risk of developing bladder or lung cancer during their lifetime.

Throughout history, arsenic has been used as an effective and lethal poison. Today, arsenic continues to present a real threat to human health all over the world, as it contaminates groundwater and food supplies. Handbook of Arsenic Toxicology presents the latest findings on arsenic, its chemistry, its sources and its acute and chronic effects on the environment and human health. The book takes readings systematically through the target organs, before detailing current preventative and counter measures. This reference enables readers to effectively assess the risks related to arsenic, and provide a comprehensive look at arsenic exposure, toxicity and toxicity prevention. - Brings together current findings on the effects of arsenic on the environment and human health - Includes state-of-the-art techniques in arsenic toxicokinetics, speciation and molecular mechanisms - Provides all the information needed for effective risk assessment, prevention and countermeasure

Rice is the staple food for half of the world’s population. Consumption of rice is the major exposure route globally to the class one, non-threshold carcinogen inorganic arsenic. This book explains the sources of arsenic to paddy soils and the biogeochemical processes and plant physiological attributes of paddy soil-rice ecosystems that lead to high concentrations of arsenic in rice grain. It presents the global pattern of arsenic concentration and speciation in rice, discusses human exposures to inorganic arsenic from rice and the resulting health risks. It also highlights particular populations that have the highest rice consumptions, which include Southern and South East Asians, weaning babies, gluten intolerance sufferers and those consuming rice milk. The book also presents the information of arsenic concentration and speciation in other major crops and outlines approaches for lowering arsenic in rice grain and in the human diet through agronomic management.

Arsenic Contamination in the World: an International Sourcebook provides a global compendium of cited arsenic occurrences in the world as they affect public health. This book details arsenic contamination by source, region and arsenic-affected country. Arsenic is identified in 105 countries and territories, representing a larger database than any previous published work. Sources of arsenic contamination are categorized as Anthropogenic, Geogenic, Volcanogenic, Coal, Mining and Petroleum-related. National, regional and international maps locate the affected areas and populations. A synthesis of critical country information includes an estimate of the exposed population of 226 million people worldwide. This reference work is an indispensable tool for medical doctors, public health workers, scientists, water experts, governments, industries, non-profit organizations and communities in identifying site-specific arsenic contamination. An extensive bibliography of peer-reviewed literature gives the reader important arsenic contamination locations as the first step towards remediation. This Sourcebook is updatable via an on-line annex which provides up-to-date information on new arsenic occurrences and developments. We invite readers to participate in updating this database at: http://www.iwawaterwiki.org/xwiki/bin/view/Articles/ExecutiveSummaryofArsenicContaminationintheWorld By synthesizing the known occurrences of arsenic world-wide, this reference book offers an essential tool for understanding and addressing the global arsenic geological-public health interface. Discounted ebook price available for customers from Developing Countries. Please contact [email protected] if you wish to purchase an ebook from a developing country @ £50.00 (PDF format). Author: Susan Murcott, Senior Lecturer, Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA Table of Contents: Executive Summary, African Region, Region of the Americas, Asia Region, European Region, Region of Australia and Oceania.

Sex, drugs, rocks, gold, murder, war, mass poisonings, the deaths of Napoleon, Tchaikovsky, Mozart, and others are all linked by one element - arsenic! Arsenic has been around since the beginning of time and the word has become a metaphor for poison with associated shock value. The general public are fearful of any possible exposure to it and yet it holds a certain dark and eerie fascination! The average person has only one idea about arsenic - it is poison - and this reputation has a sound base. Some arsenic compounds are very toxic and have been used with criminal intent from the time of the ancient Romans to the present day. Up until now, there has been no book that covers arsenic with such breadth. This book is a general appreciation of how much the element, arsenic, has become part of our lives in an entertaining style covering the years 1000 BC to the present day. The coverage of the chemistry, toxicology, and medicinal aspects is deliberately kept at a level for the general reader to understand. It covers the way in which this ubiquitous element and its compounds have influenced the lives of the people of the world. The author's objective in writing this book was not to elaborate on the vast chemistry of the element, but to try to reveal to the general reader how the element and its compounds have become embedded in our social fabric, for good and for ill. No other element comes close in this regard and he uses the word sociochemistry to describe this interface between society and chemistry. The book covers a broad range of topics including the use of arsenic in human medicine in many cultures from Chinese medicine to the beginning of chemotherapy. This peaked in the western world in the early 20th century, with Ehrlich's discovery of salvarsan, an arsenic-based cure for syphilis that gave rise to the field of chemotherapy. Salvarsan and related compounds were eventually displaced by antibiotics such as penicillin. Arsenic trioxide has staged a comeback, however, and is being used as a successful treatment for a form of leukemia. Other chapters cover arsenic compounds which were widely used in agriculture and wood preservation during the 20th century and their associated myths as well as arsenic compounds as chemical warfare agents and the resulting stockpile. The topic of arsenic in the environment is discussed in depth - arsenic is all around us - in our soil, our water, and our food, and our bodies have adapted to its presence and it does not usually pose a problem. However, the natural presence of high concentrations of arsenic in drinking water currently threatens the lives of millions of people in India, Bangladesh, Mexico and elsewhere. It also covers mining and pesticide manufacturing which can lead to high local arsenic concentrations in soils, slag heaps and mine tailings which, when located close to human activities, can produce human health risks. Other chapters cover a variety of topics including: " A proposed connection between arsenic and Cot Death (SIDS) which caused panic " The high concentration of arsenic in kelp products-is this harmful? " What about the 237,000 tonnes of arsenic trioxide stored in a mine in Canada? " How toxic is arsenic anyway, and how do you assess the risks of exposure? " How did Napoleon die? These and many other topics are addressed at a level that will result in understanding without delving into too much technical detail or requiring a degree in chemistry. Essential reading for everyone with a general interest in science, this illuminating text covers a broad range of topics.

Over the last century, the industrialization of agriculture and processing technologies have made food abundant and relatively inexpensive for much of the world’s population. Simultaneously, pesticides, nitrates, and other technological innovations intended to improve the food supply’s productivity and safety have generated new, often poorly understood risks for consumers and the environment. From the proliferation of synthetic additives to the threat posed by antibiotic-resistant bacteria, the chapters in Risk on the Table zero in on key historical cases in North America and Europe that illuminate the history of food safety, highlighting the powerful tensions that exists among scientific understandings of risk, policymakers’ decisions, and cultural notions of “pure” food.