Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Environmental Health Perspectives logoLink to Environmental Health Perspectives
. 2000 Jul;108(7):617–620. doi: 10.1289/ehp.00108617

Arsenic-induced skin lesions among Atacameño people in Northern Chile despite good nutrition and centuries of exposure.

A H Smith 1, A P Arroyo 1, D N Mazumder 1, M J Kosnett 1, A L Hernandez 1, M Beeris 1, M M Smith 1, L E Moore 1
PMCID: PMC1638201  PMID: 10903614

Abstract

It has been suggested that the indigenous Atacameño people in Northern Chile might be protected from the health effects of arsenic in drinking water because of many centuries of exposure. Here we report on the first intensive investigation of arsenic-induced skin lesions in this population. We selected 11 families (44 participants) from the village of Chiu Chiu, which is supplied with water containing between 750 and 800 microg/L inorganic arsenic. For comparison, 8 families (31 participants) were also selected from a village where the water contains approximately 10 microg/L inorganic arsenic. After being transported to the nearest city for blind assessment, participants were examined by four physicians with experience in studying arsenic-induced lesions. Four of the six men from the exposed village, who had been drinking the contaminated water for more than 20 years, were diagnosed with skin lesions due to arsenic, but none of the women had definite lesions. A 13-year-old girl had definite skin pigmentation changes due to arsenic, and a 19-year-old boy had both pigmentation changes and keratoses on the palms of his hands and the soles of his feet. Family interviews identified a wide range of fruits and vegetables consumed daily by the affected participants, as well as the weekly intake of red meat and chicken. However, the prevalence of skin lesions among men and children in the small population studied was similar to that reported with corresponding arsenic drinking water concentrations in both Taiwan and West Bengal, India--populations in which extensive malnutrition has been thought to increase susceptibility.

Full text

PDF
617

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Aposhian H. V., Arroyo A., Cebrian M. E., del Razo L. M., Hurlbut K. M., Dart R. C., Gonzalez-Ramirez D., Kreppel H., Speisky H., Smith A. DMPS-arsenic challenge test. I: Increased urinary excretion of monomethylarsonic acid in humans given dimercaptopropane sulfonate. J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 1997 Jul;282(1):192–200. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Biggs M. L., Haque R., Moore L., Smith A., Ferreccio C., Hopenhayn-Rich C. Arsenic-laced water in Chile. Science. 1998 Aug 7;281(5378):785–785. doi: 10.1126/science.281.5378.783g. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Biggs M. L., Kalman D. A., Moore L. E., Hopenhayn-Rich C., Smith M. T., Smith A. H. Relationship of urinary arsenic to intake estimates and a biomarker of effect, bladder cell micronuclei. Mutat Res. 1997 Jun;386(3):185–195. doi: 10.1016/s1383-5742(97)00012-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Borgoño J. M., Vicent P., Venturino H., Infante A. Arsenic in the drinking water of the city of Antofagasta: epidemiological and clinical study before and after the installation of a treatment plant. Environ Health Perspect. 1977 Aug;19:103–105. doi: 10.1289/ehp.19-1637404. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Chen C. J., Wu M. M., Lee S. S., Wang J. D., Cheng S. H., Wu H. Y. Atherogenicity and carcinogenicity of high-arsenic artesian well water. Multiple risk factors and related malignant neoplasms of blackfoot disease. Arteriosclerosis. 1988 Sep-Oct;8(5):452–460. doi: 10.1161/01.atv.8.5.452. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Engel R. R., Receveur O. Re: "Arsenic ingestion and internal cancers: a review". Am J Epidemiol. 1993 Nov 15;138(10):896–897. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a116797. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Guha Mazumder D. N., Haque R., Ghosh N., De B. K., Santra A., Chakraborty D., Smith A. H. Arsenic levels in drinking water and the prevalence of skin lesions in West Bengal, India. Int J Epidemiol. 1998 Oct;27(5):871–877. doi: 10.1093/ije/27.5.871. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Hopenhayn-Rich C., Biggs M. L., Smith A. H., Kalman D. A., Moore L. E. Methylation study of a population environmentally exposed to arsenic in drinking water. Environ Health Perspect. 1996 Jun;104(6):620–628. doi: 10.1289/ehp.96104620. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Kaiser J. Toxicologists shed new light on old poisons. Science. 1998 Mar 20;279(5358):1850–1851. doi: 10.1126/science.279.5358.1850. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Kuczmarski R. J., Carroll M. D., Flegal K. M., Troiano R. P. Varying body mass index cutoff points to describe overweight prevalence among U.S. adults: NHANES III (1988 to 1994). Obes Res. 1997 Nov;5(6):542–548. doi: 10.1002/j.1550-8528.1997.tb00575.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Moore L. E., Smith A. H., Hopenhayn-Rich C., Biggs M. L., Kalman D. A., Smith M. T. Decrease in bladder cell micronucleus prevalence after intervention to lower the concentration of arsenic in drinking water. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 1997 Dec;6(12):1051–1056. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Moore L. E., Smith A. H., Hopenhayn-Rich C., Biggs M. L., Kalman D. A., Smith M. T. Micronuclei in exfoliated bladder cells among individuals chronically exposed to arsenic in drinking water. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 1997 Jan;6(1):31–36. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Rahman M., Tondel M., Ahmad S. A., Axelson O. Diabetes mellitus associated with arsenic exposure in Bangladesh. Am J Epidemiol. 1998 Jul 15;148(2):198–203. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a009624. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Tseng W. P. Blackfoot disease in Taiwan: a 30-year follow-up study. Angiology. 1989 Jun;40(6):547–558. doi: 10.1177/000331978904000606. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Tseng W. P. Effects and dose--response relationships of skin cancer and blackfoot disease with arsenic. Environ Health Perspect. 1977 Aug;19:109–119. doi: 10.1289/ehp.7719109. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Zaldívar R., Prunés L., Ghai G. L. Arsenic dose in patients with cutaneous carcinomata and hepatic hemangio-endothelioma after environmental and occupational exposure. Arch Toxicol. 1981 Apr;47(2):145–154. doi: 10.1007/BF00332356. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Environmental Health Perspectives are provided here courtesy of National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences

RESOURCES