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Health aspects of human exposure to high arsenic concentrations in soil in south-west England

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Arsenic

Abstract

The south-western peninsula of England (the south-west) consists of the counties of Cornwall to the west, and Devon. The River Tamar forms the boundary between the two counties. The south-west is extensively contaminated with heavy metals arising from centuries of mining activity in the region. From about 1860 to 1900, this region was the world’s major producer of arsenic (As). The principal minerals of economic importance were arsenopyrite (FeAsS), chalcopyrite (CuFeS2) and galena (PbS). Other local ores were casserite (SnO2) and stannite (CuSnS4). Mining and smelting activities have left a legacy of contaminated land, with As- and Cu-rich mine tailings and other wastes abundant. Further extensive areas of land were contaminated with fall out from the smelting process. Some 700 km2 of land are affected (Abrahams and Thornton, 1987). Most of the contaminated area is agricultural with villages and small towns; urban development has sometimes taken place on contaminated land. Sources of As in the region and some aspects of the exposure of local populations have been discussed recently (Thornton, 1994; Mitchell and Barr, 1995).

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Authors
  1. M. E. Farago
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  2. I. Thornton
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  3. P. Kavanagh
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  4. P. Elliott
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  5. G. S. Leonardi
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. US Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, USA

    Charles O. Abernathy  & Rebecca L. Calderon  & 

  2. University of Colorado, USA

    Willard R. Chappell (Professor of Physics) (Professor of Physics)

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© 1997 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

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Farago, M.E., Thornton, I., Kavanagh, P., Elliott, P., Leonardi, G.S. (1997). Health aspects of human exposure to high arsenic concentrations in soil in south-west England. In: Abernathy, C.O., Calderon, R.L., Chappell, W.R. (eds) Arsenic. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-5864-0_17

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-5864-0_17

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-010-6478-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-011-5864-0

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