Arsenic was implicated in the etiology of cancer and warrants further study.

“Arsenic, one of the most significant hazards in the environment affecting millions of people around the world, is associated with several diseases including cancers of skin, lung, urinary bladder, kidney and liver. Groundwater contamination by arsenic is the main route of exposure,” scientists in Germany reported.

“Inhalation of airborne arsenic or arsenic-contaminated dust is a common health problem in many ore mines. This review deals with the questions raised in the epidemiological studies such as the dose-response relationship, putative confounders and synergistic effects, and methods evaluating arsenic exposure. Furthermore, it describes the metabolic pathways of arsenic, and its biological modes of action. The role of arsenic in the development of cancer is elucidated in the context of combined epidemiological and biological studies,” explained S. Tapio and colleagues, Federal Office for Radiation Protection.

The researchers concluded, “However, further analyses by means of molecular epidemiology are needed to improve the understanding of cancer aetiology induced by arsenic.”

Tapio and colleagues published their study in Mutation Research - Reviews in Mutation Research (Arsenic in the aetiology of cancer. Mutat Res, 2006;612(3):215-246).

For more information, contact S. Tapio, Federal Office for Radiation Protection, Dept. of Radiation Protect & Health, Ingolstaedter Landstr 1, D-85764 Neuherberg, Germany.

Publisher contact information for the journal Mutation Research - Reviews in Mutation Research is: Elsevier Science BV, PO Box 211, 1000 AE Amsterdam, Netherlands.