The status of arsenic poisoning in China

Abstract

The first case of chronic arsenic poisoning from drinking-water in the mainland of China was recognized in the early 1980s in a remote area under cultivation in Xinjiang province, where the arsenic levels in deep well water were over 0.6mg/L (Wang, 1984). In the early 1990s, this kind of arsenic poisoning was found in many other places in Inner Mongolia as well as in Shanxi provinces. At about the same time there were reports from local anti-epidemic stations in Guizhou province concerning chronic arsenic poisoning from burning coal which contained much higher levels of arsenic than usual. The third source of arsenic poisoning was found to be caused by arsenic pollution from non-ferrous smelters located in Yunan province. These main chronic arsenic exposures are often classified in China as drinking-water type, coal-burning type and air-pollution type, according to their arsenic sources. The geographic distribution of these three types of arsenic exposure are shown in Figure 7.1; the status of arsenic poisoning prevalence (hyperpigmentation, hyperkeratosis, peripheral neuropathy, etc.) are described separately below.