Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Arsenic poisoning (or arsenicosis) is a medical condition that occurs due to elevated levels of arsenic in the body. [4] If arsenic poisoning occurs over a brief period of time, symptoms may include vomiting, abdominal pain, encephalopathy, and watery diarrhea that contains blood. [1]
The arsenic (As) cycle is the biogeochemical cycle of natural and anthropogenic exchanges of arsenic terms through the atmosphere, lithosphere, pedosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere. Although arsenic is naturally abundant in the Earth's crust, long-term exposure and high concentrations of arsenic can be detrimental to human health. [1] [2]
Research has not been conducted to determine whether small amounts of arsenic may play a role in human metabolism. [17] [18] However, arsenic poisoning occurs in multicellular life if quantities are larger than needed. Arsenic contamination of groundwater is a problem that affects millions of people across the world.
Then, they can bind to and interfere with the functioning of vital cellular components. The toxic effects of arsenic, mercury, and lead were known to the ancients, but methodical studies of the toxicity of some heavy metals appear to date from only 1868. In humans, heavy metal poisoning is generally treated by the administration of chelating ...
Arsenic is a moderately abundant element in Earth's crust, and although many arsenic compounds are often considered highly toxic to most life, a wide variety of organoarsenic compounds are produced biologically and various organic and inorganic arsenic compounds are metabolized by numerous organisms.
Arsenate is the major arsenic form in oxidizing environments; however, in one study, bacteria from arsenic-contaminated soil at a smelter site was able to reduce As(+5) to As(+3) under anaerobic conditions at arsenic concentration as high as 75 mg/L. [3] Arsenate-respiring bacteria and Archaea have also recently been isolated from a diversity of natural environments, including freshwater ...
Gold mining can contaminate groundwater with arsenic, because the element typically occurs in gold-containing ores. Gold processing releases arsenic from mine tailings, and contaminated groundwater may be unsafe to drink for decades. [6] Arsenic that is naturally occurring can contaminate the soil, just as it does the groundwater.
Monosodium methyl arsenate (MSMA) is an arsenic-based herbicide.It is an organo-arsenate; less toxic than the inorganic form of arsenates. However, the EPA states that all forms of arsenic are a serious risk to human health and the United States' Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry ranked arsenic as number 1 in its 2001 Priority List of Hazardous Substances at Superfund sites.