Arsenic is a known toxic substance. Its spread through contaminated wastewater should be controlled. In this article I mention how wastewater arsenic contamination can be harmful to humans.
Arsenic: the pathogenicity of arsenic is thought to be due to the binding of sulphydril enzymes, that interrupts cellular metabolism. The arsenic poisoning symptoms are initially gastrointestinal. Two to three hours after an oral dose, there is sudden vomiting and copious watery diarrhea, which may be bloody. If death does not occur, jaundice and renal failure may develop after a couple of days. The fatal dose may be as low as 100 mg. Chronic poisoning is manifest by anorexia, diarrhea and weight loss. If poisoning continues, other features include typical skin changes such as bronzing and hyperkeratosis of the palms and soles, peripheral neuritis, and cardiac, renal and liver changes.
Blackfoot disease is the name given to a peripheral vascular disease caused by arsenic. The disease usually begins with numbness or coldness in the feet. Cumulative exposure to arsenic is associated with hypertension. The cutaneous signs of arsenism include hypopigmentation, hyperpigmentation, palmoplantar keratosis, papular keratosis, and ulcerative zones. The population exposed to wastewater arsenic contamination is likely to suffer from nausea, epigastric pain, colic, diarrhea, headache and oedema.
Chronic arsenism, due to consumption of artesian drinking water, has been reported to be endemic in the southwest coast of Taiwan. Arsenical dermatitis is seen in the rural Asia, where it is associated with water from tube wells exposed to wastewater arsenic contamination. This problem was first identified in 1983. The arsenic concentrations in tube well water associated with affected families ranged from 0.20 to 2.00 mg/l.
No comments:
Post a Comment