Arsenic Contamination in Asia pp 61-81 | Cite as
Field Researches on Chronical Arsenic Poisoning in Inner Mongolia, China
Abstract
Chronic arsenic (As) poisoning in China as endemic disease observed in local residents is summarized with reference to the field research reports. The importance of choosing the appropriate parameter for As exposure based on the property of each field in the analytical research on the relationship between As exposure level and As-related diseases is discussed. Our field cohort study of chronic waterborne As poisoning established in Inner Mongolia is introduced as one of the leading models demonstrating that it is possible to evaluate the improvement of As-related diseases including skin lesions and to validate the attenuation of carcinogenesis by the mitigation of As exposure. Our cohort study reveals that the improvement of skin lesions due to chronic As poisoning occurred in the early phase as 1 or 2 years after the mitigation of As exposure, and then slow alleviation continued for long periods. On the other hand, after long, more than 25 years As exposure period, and even if the exposure had mitigated, the number of As-induced malignancy including skin cancer is expected to rise. So for well-directed screening to find the As-related malignancy cases, the use of appropriate parameters for identifying high-risk subjects is needed.
Keywords
Arsenic poisoning Parameters for As exposure level China Gangfangying village Mitigation trial Improvement of skin lesions CarcinogenesisReferences
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