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Arsenism Clinical Stages and their Relation with Hair Arsenic Concentration of Residents of Bayinmaodao Rural District, Inner Mongolia, China

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Abstract

The clinical skin lesions of arsenism in men and women in Bayinmaodao rural district in Inner Mongolia, People’s Republic of China, have been examined by doctors, and their hair and drinking water samples analysed for arsenic by hydride generation and ICP-AES. Altogether 311 arsenism patients with a 15.53% prevalence rate for the district were recorded. The disease prevalence rate was positively related to population, age, and their exposure to elevated arsenic concentrations in the drinking water from 1983 when new wells were dug and drinking of surface water was abandoned. Hyperkeratosis was the most serious skin lesion with the highest occurrence rate, then depigmentation and pigmentation in decreasing order. With increasing severity of the disease, ranging from skin lesion with single hyperkeratosis 1° to hyperkeratosis 3° with depigmentation 3° and pigmentation 3°, the results showed that arsenic concentrations in head hair had increased. Arsenic concentrations in hair were positively correlated with the arsenic concentrations in drinking water obtained from local wells.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources, Chinese Academy of Science, 100101, Beijing, P.R. China

    Linsheng Yang, Wuyi Wang & Shaofan Hou

  2. MARC, King’s College London, University of London, Franklin-Wilkins Building, 150 Stamford Street, SE1 9NN, London, UK

    W. Peter Williams & Peter J. Peterson

Authors
  1. Linsheng Yang
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  2. Wuyi Wang
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  3. Shaofan Hou
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  4. W. Peter Williams
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  5. Peter J. Peterson
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Correspondence to W. Peter Williams.

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Yang, L., Wang, W., Hou, S. et al. Arsenism Clinical Stages and their Relation with Hair Arsenic Concentration of Residents of Bayinmaodao Rural District, Inner Mongolia, China. Environmental Geochemistry and Health 24, 337–348 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1020503600916

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