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National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences

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Your Environment. Your Health.

Publication Detail

Title: Arsenic exposure from drinking water and risk of premalignant skin lesions in Bangladesh: baseline results from the Health Effects of Arsenic Longitudinal Study.

Authors: Ahsan, Habibul; Chen, Yu; Parvez, Faruque; Zablotska, Lydia; Argos, Maria; Hussain, Iftikhar; Momotaj, Hassina; Levy, Diane; Cheng, Zhongqi; Slavkovich, Vesna; van Geen, Alexander; Howe, Geoffrey R; Graziano, Joseph H

Published In Am J Epidemiol, (2006 Jun 15)

Abstract: Millions of persons around the world are exposed to low doses of arsenic through drinking water. However, estimates of health effects associated with low-dose arsenic exposure have been extrapolated from high-dose studies. In Bangladesh, many persons have been exposed to a wide range of doses of arsenic from drinking water over a significant period of time. The authors evaluated dose-response relations between arsenic exposure from drinking water and premalignant skin lesions by using baseline data on 11,746 participants recruited in 2000-2002 for the Health Effects of Arsenic Longitudinal Study in Araihazar, Bangladesh. Several measures of arsenic exposure were estimated for each participant based on well-water arsenic concentration and usage pattern of the wells and on urinary arsenic concentration. In different regression models, consistent dose-response effects were observed for all arsenic exposure measures. Compared with drinking water containing <8.1 microg/liter of arsenic, drinking water containing 8.1-40.0, 40.1-91.0, 91.1-175.0, and 175.1-864.0 microg/liter of arsenic was associated with adjusted prevalence odds ratios of skin lesions of 1.91 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.26, 2.89), 3.03 (95% CI: 2.05, 4.50), 3.71 (95% CI: 2.53, 5.44), and 5.39 (95% CI: 3.69, 7.86), respectively. The effect seemed to be influenced by gender, age, and body mass index. These findings provide information that should be considered in future research and policy decisions.

PubMed ID: 16624965 Exiting the NIEHS site

MeSH Terms: Adult; Arsenic/adverse effects*; Arsenic/analysis; Bangladesh/epidemiology; Cross-Sectional Studies; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Environmental Exposure/adverse effects*; Female; Humans; Longitudinal Studies; Male; Middle Aged; Precancerous Conditions/chemically induced*; Precancerous Conditions/epidemiology; Regression Analysis; Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural; Risk Factors; Skin Diseases/chemically induced*; Skin Diseases/epidemiology; Water Supply*

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