Arsenic exposure and cancer risk reduction with local ordinance requiring whole-house dual-tank water treatment systems

Arsenic, a known human carcinogen, occurs naturally in groundwater in New Jersey and many other states and countries. A number of municipalities in the Piedmont, Highlands, and Valley and Ridge Physiographic Provinces of New Jersey have a high proportion of wells that exceed the New Jersey maximum contaminant level (MCL) of 5 µg/L. Hopewell Township, located in Mercer County and the Piedmont Province, has a progressive local ordinance which requires the installation of dual-tank, point-of-entry treatment systems on affected wells. This provided a unique study opportunity. Of the 55 homes with dual-tank POE treatment systems recruited into this study, 51 homes (93%) had arsenic levels under the MCL at the kitchen sink, regardless of years in service and/or maintenance schedule adherence. Based on the study participants’ water consumption and arsenic concentrations, we estimate that Hopewell's arsenic water treatment ordinance, requiring POE dual-tank arsenic treatment, reduced the incidence of excess lifetime (70-year) bladder and lung cancers from 121 (1.7 cancer cases/year) to 16 (0.2 cancer cases/year) preventing 105 lifetime cancer cases (1.5 cases/year). Because the high risk of cancer from arsenic can be mitigated with effective arsenic water treatment systems, this ordinance should be considered a model for other municipalities.     

外源磷对苗期小麦和水稻根际砷形态及其生物有效性的影响

采用土(中度砷污染土)-土根袋培养的方法研究了两个浓度的外源磷(P)对苗期小麦和水稻根际砷(As)形态分布及其生物有效性的影响.结果表明:(1)两种作物生长的土壤中各砷形态的分配比例依次为:结晶铁锰或铁铝水化氧化物结合态(45%～52%)＞无定形和弱结晶铁铝或铁锰水化氧化物结合态(26%～34%)＞专性吸附态(12%～14%)＞残渣态(4%～7%)＞非专性吸附态(0.09%～0.25%).(2)添加外源磷浓度为100 mg·kg-1与不施磷处理相比显著提高了两种作物地上部的生物量(p＜0.01).(3)苗期小麦在添加100 mg·kg-1外源磷时,不仅促进了作物生长而且抑制根中砷向地上部的转运.(4)任何磷处理下,水稻对砷的吸收能力以及由根系向地上部转移能力均高于小麦.因此,在轻中度砷污染土壤上与水稻相比更适宜种植小麦(或其他旱作植物);而在水稻种植季,可以通过添加适量磷肥(100 mg·kg-1)来减弱砷在水稻体内的累积.     

产嗜铁素砷抗性微生物在砷污染环境中的作用

在砷污染环境中,许多微生物进化出了砷抗性,对地球环境中砷的命运起着决定性的作用。其次,由于自然条件下铁有效浓度低,微生物一般会表达嗜铁素,协助微生物吸收铁。嗜铁素除了与铁结合外,还可与多种金属离子形成稳定的复合物,促进环境中砷酸盐的溶解和亚砷酸盐的氧化。最后,产嗜铁素微生物有促进植物生长和促进或减弱植物吸收砷的可能性。因此,产嗜铁素砷抗性微生物可能具有在砷污染环境的修复中发挥作用的潜力。     

Arsenic and cadmium in the marine macroalgae (Porphyra yezoensis and Laminaria Japonica) — forms and concentrations

Abstract

Total arsenic, inorganic arsenic (iAs), total cadmium concentrations and chemical forms of cadmium were analysed in Porphyra yezoensis collected monthly from January to April in 2011 and in Laminaria Japonica collected monthly from March to July in 2010. Results showed that total As concentrations in P. yezoensis were much lower than those in L. Japonica. The iAs concentrations in both macroalgae were all below the maximum limit according to the legislation in China, while total Cd concentrations in all samples of P. yezoensis exceeded the maximum limit. The percentage of iAs to total As decreased in both macroalgae with the time. The results provide important information showing that both macroalgae are able to metabolise inorganic arsenic to organic forms. Thus both macroalgae have evolved arsenic resistance which is linked to the capability of metabolising toxic inorganic arsenic. In addition, the results suggest that the transformation rate of arsenate to organic arsenic in both algae increases with the growth and metabolic rate that increase with elevated environmental temperature. Temperatures rise from January to April in Jiangsu province and from March to July in Liaoning Province. Most Cd was associated with pectates and protein (extractable by 1 M NaCl) in both algae, and only a small percentage of the Cd was inorganic (extractable by 80% ethanol). The Cd chemical forms have no obvious relationship with the time in both algae.     

Toxicity of arsenate in Silene vulgaris, accumulation and degradation of arsenate-induced phytochelatins

The results presented in this paper describe the short- and long-term toxicity of arsenate in Silene vulgaris . Short-term toxicity, measured as inhibition of root elongation, depended on phosphate nutrition, arsenate being much less toxic at high phosphate supply. At low phosphate levels more arsenic was taken up by the plants. Under chronic exposure, toxicity (measured as inhibition of biomass production) did not increase with time. In addition, the accumulation of phytochelatins (PCs) as a function of toxicity and duration of exposure was studied. Short-term PC accumulation (over a 3 d period) was positively correlated with exposure. Isolation of peptide complexes from prolongedly exposed plants showed that PC₂, PC₃ and PC₄ were present, although the latter not until at least 3 d exposure. Arsenic co-eluted mainly with PC₂ and PC₃. Fractions containing PC₄ were devoid of As, probably due to dissociation of the complexes during extraction or elution. The breakdown of PCs after arresting As exposure was very slow. This could explain the continuous accumulation of PCs throughout longer periods of As exposure.     

蜈蚣草砷超富集机制及其在砷污染修复中的应用

蕨类植物蜈蚣草能够从土壤中吸收砷,并储存于地上部分羽叶的液泡中。蜈蚣草具有高效的抗氧化系统,以降低砷的毒害;其砷酸还原系统和液泡区隔化是蜈蚣草进行砷解毒和砷超富集的重要机制。本文综述了目前蜈蚣草砷超富集机制研究的主要进展,并对其在修复砷污染环境的应用中进行了讨论。     

Oxidation of arsenite to arsenate by a bacterium isolated from an aquatic environment

Arsenic is ubiquitous in the biosphere and frequently reported to be an environmental pollutant. Global cycling of arsenic is affected by microorganisms. This paper describes a new bacterial strain which is able to efficiently oxidize arsenite (As[III]) into arsenate (As[V]) in liquid medium. The rate of the transformation depends on the cell density. Arsenic species were separated by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and quantified by inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES). The strain also exhibits high minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) for As[III] (6.65 mM (500 mg L^-1)) and other heavy metals, such as cadmium (1.42 mM (160 mg L^-1)) or lead (1.20 mM (250 mg L^-1)). Partial identification of the strain revealed a chemoorganotrophic, Gram-negative and motile rod. The results presented here demonstrate that this strain could represent a good candidate for arsenic remediation in heavily polluted sites.     

Epidemiological associations between arsenic and cancer in Argentina

The population of a large central area of Argentina is affected by a syndrome designed as “regional and endemic chronic hydroarsenicism.” A number of types of neoplasms, especially of skin, urinary bladder, and of digestive system, occur with higher frequency in these areas. Drinking water in some of the affected areas contains from 0.1 to 1.2 mg/L of As.     

Arsenic Pollution of a Loam Soil: Retention Form and Decontamination

A study was conducted to assess the retention form of arsenic in soil and to evaluate the use of phosphate for releasing it from the soil. In this study, a loam soil was artificially polluted with arsenate at pH 5.5, which is one of the pH values at which maximum arsenic adsorption occurred. The soil was kept for 2.5 months under wet conditions to allow for stabilization. The soil was maintained under aerobic condition and losses of arsenic by volatilization were determined to be minimal. The soil was then sequentially extracted with a series of chemicals to identify the soil fractions in which the arsenic was bound. The percentage of arsenic found in the Fe bound-exchangeable, reducible-residual, Al bound exchangeable, residual, calcium bound exchangeable, and easily exchangeable forms was 31.6, 27.3, 25.2, 5.5, 4.9, and 4.7%, respectively. A batch experiment showed that at 20°C, 80% of the bound arsenic was removed by phosphate in the pH range of 5 to 7. A power function model was found to fit the data with a desorption rate constant of 402?mg/kg As h^?1.     

Mechanisms of arsenic tolerance and detoxification in plants and their application in transgenic technology: a critical appraisal

Arsenic (As) contamination of the environment has emerged as a serious problem. Consequently, there is an urge to understand plants' responses to As. The analysis of various hypertolerant and hyperaccumulator plants and comparison of their responses with non-tolerant and nonaccumulators have provided valuable information about the mechanisms of As tolerance and detoxification. Therefore, we understand why most of the pteridophytes are able to hyperacumulate As, why it is difficult to find hyperaccumulators among angiosperms and why rice is able to translocate As to its grains more efficiently than any other cereal crop. This information can be employed to generate As hyperaccumulators in angiosperms and to develop safe cultivars of rice for human consumption through biotechnological approaches. Although measurable success, in terms of application in the field, has so far not been achieved, transgenic research has yielded promising results, which shed light on the approaches to be taken up in future endeavor. In this review, we discuss the mechanisms of As tolerance and detoxification in plants and transgenic research conducted.     

Importance of Arsenic Speciation in Populations Exposed to Arsenic in Drinking Water

Total arsenic in urine is often the principal means for assessing chronic exposure to arsenic-contaminated drinking water. This approach ignores many components of the human diet, especially fish and seafood that contain arsenic at significant concentrations. The toxicity differences between the inorganic forms and the dietary forms suggest both should be evaluated when attempting to assess risk from arsenic exposure. Urine biomonitoring for 53 participants was used to confirm reduction in arsenic exposure resulting from well water remediation removing inorganic arsenic from drinking water. Initially, only total arsenic urine assays were performed, but spikes in total arsenic urine concentrations were determined to be diet related and demonstrated the need for analytical methods that differentiate the arsenic species. A secondary analysis was added that quantified inorganic-related arsenic in urine and the dietary forms related to fish and seafood by subtraction from total arsenic. Significant differences were found between the inorganic arsenic component and the total arsenic measured in their urine. On average, approximately 76% of total arsenic in urine was attributed to fish and other organo-arsenic dietary sources, implying a potential significant overestimate of exposure, and demonstrating the need for differentiation of the inorganic-related arsenic from dietary arsenic.     

Expression of a Pteris vittata glutaredoxin PvGRX5 in transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana increases plant arsenic tolerance and decreases arsenic accumulation in the leaves

Chinese brake fern Pteris vittata hyperaccumulates arsenic in its fronds. In a study to identify brake fern cDNAs in arsenic resistance, we implicated a glutaredoxin, PvGRX5, because when expressed in Escherichia coli , it improved arsenic tolerance in recombinant bacteria. Here, we asked whether PvGRX5 transgenic expression would alter plant arsenic tolerance and metabolism. Two lines of Arabidopsis thaliana constitutively expressing PvGrx5 cDNA were compared with vector control and wild-type lines. PvGRX5-expressors were significantly more tolerant to arsenic compared with control lines based on germination, root growth and whole plant growth under imposed arsenic stress. PvGRX5-expressors contained significantly lower total arsenic compared with control lines following treatment with arsenate. Additionally, PvGRX5-expressors were significantly more efficient in their arsenate reduction in vivo . Together, our results indicate that PvGRX5 has a role in arsenic tolerance via improving arsenate reduction and regulating cellular arsenic levels. Paradoxically, our results suggest that PvGRX5 from the arsenic hyperaccumulator fern can be used in a novel biotechnological solution to decrease arsenic in crops.     

节杆菌FX8的分离筛选及其生物成矿除砷

【背景】砷（arsenic,As）是一种剧毒的类金属,水体砷污染问题日益突出,严重威胁人类健康,开发高效除砷方法迫在眉睫。【目的】吸附法是目前除砷应用最多的方法之一,对从铁矿表层土壤分离得到的一株铁氧化菌FX8进行研究,以期通过其氧化Fe （II）生成的铁矿物作为吸附剂而去除砷。【方法】通过形态学特征、生理生化特性、全基因组测序分析对菌株进行鉴定,采用邻菲罗啉分光光度法测定总Fe和Fe （II）,利用X射线衍射（X-ray diffraction,XRD）、X射线光电子能谱（X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy,XPS）和能量色散谱（energy dispersive spectrometer,EDS）对铁氧化物沉淀进行分析,采用高压液相色谱-氢化物发生-原子荧光光谱测定总As。【结果】菌株FX8为革兰氏阳性、好氧,其菌落为圆形、乳白色,扫描电镜（scanning electron microscope,SEM）镜检细胞为杆状,大小为（0.5-2.5）μm×（0.13-0.25）μm,可归为节杆菌属（Arthrobacter）。菌株FX8能够氧化Fe （II）并生成铁氧化物沉淀,该沉淀为一种无定形的Fe （III）矿物,其结晶性差且含有大量生物杂质,并且通过产生胞外酶氧化Fe （II）。菌株FX8在28℃、150 r/min条件下,在加As （III）和As （V）体系中,48 h内总Fe的去除率均为100%,而对应的总As去除率分别为99.54%和99.86%;在As （III）和As （V）体系中加入菌株FX8的胞外粗酶液,2 h内总Fe的去除率均为100%,相应的总As去除率为99.45%和100%。【结论】菌株FX8是一株铁氧化菌,利用其胞外粗酶液生物矿化铁除砷的效果优于菌株-砷共培养,本研究可为水体砷污染的高效生物修复提供新的生物材料及理论参考。     

Arsenic transport between water and sediments

Arsenic discharged into the Moira River has accumulated in the sediments of Moira Lake during the past century. The chronology of arsenic concentrations in the sediments, established using Pb-210 dating, has a subsurface concentration maximum (> 1000 g g^–1) that reflects higher inputs to the lake 15 to 45 years ago. The distribution coefficient (K_d) of arsenic in the surficial sediments was low (4000–6000 L kg^–1) and decreased below the sediment water interface. Higher concentrations of exchangeable As also were extracted deeper in the sediments. As a result, arsenic is mobile in the sediment column and the flux of arsenic via diffusion and particle resuspension from the sediments into the water is greater than current external loading from the Moira River. Less than 20% of the external input of arsenic is buried in the lake sediments. Using these flux measurements and a one dimensional model of arsenic transport in the sediment column, we constructed the history of arsenic exchange between water and sediments throughout the past century. The simulations predict that arsenic input into the water from the sediments has been > 20 % of external loading for the past 25 years and will continue to be important in the future as diffusion and resuspension regenerate arsenic from the mixed layer of the sediments into the overlying water.     

砷的微生物转化及其在环境与医学应用中的研究进展

砷广泛分布于自然界中,近年来砷污染及砷中毒事件在全球范围内的频繁发生,严重威胁着全球上千万人口的健康.砷的迁移与转化等地球化学行为的研究对探明环境中砷的来源以及砷污染整治的方法至关重要.越来越多的研究表明,自然界中的微生物广泛参与了砷的地球化学循环,在砷的迁移与转化过程中起到关键作用.综述了近年来砷的微生物转化及其相关酶类与编码基因等的研究进展,同时结合作者的工作分析与展望了砷的微生物转化在环境与医学中的应用前景.     

Trace element concentration and arsenic speciation in the well water of a Taiwan area with endemic Blackfoot disease

Blackfoot disease is a peripheral vascular disease resulting in gangrene of the lower extremities. Although extensive epidemiological study has implicated high arsenic content in artesian well water in the endemic area, there is more to learn about the etiology of the disease. In this study, effort is paid on multielement determination and arsenic speciation in order to find out whether the trace element concentration pattern in well water in the Blackfoot disease endemic area is different from those of two control areas. Experimental results indicate that the concentrations of Fe, P, Na, and Ba in well water in the Blackfoot disease endemic area are found to be significantly higher than those of the controls, but they are still below the drinking water standard. The total arsenic in well water in the endemic area (671±149 ppb) is much higher than that of one normal control area of Hsin-Chu (<0.7 ppb), but is a similar level as that of other control areas of I-Lan (653±71 ppb) where no Blackfoot disease has ever been found. It was also found that the insoluble arsenic in the endemic area (21.9 ppb) is much higher than that in two control areas (≤1.8 ppb), and the concentration ratio between As(III) and As(V) species in the endemic area (2.6) is much lower than that in one of the control areas, where the total arsenic is also high (14.7). The possible connection of Blackfoot disease with trace elements, arsenic species, and possibly other as yet undefined environmental factors in the artesian well water, is discussed.     

Development of suitable hydroponics system for phytoremediation of arsenic-contaminated water using an arsenic hyperaccumulator plant Pteris vittata

In this study, we found that high-performance hydroponics of arsenic hyperaccumulator fern Pteris vittata is possible without any mechanical aeration system, if rhizomes of the ferns are kept over the water surface level. It was also found that very low-nutrition condition is better for root elongation of P. vittata that is an important factor of the arsenic removal from contaminated water. By the non-aeration and low-nutrition hydroponics for four months, roots of P. vittata were elongated more than 500 mm. The results of arsenate phytofiltration experiments showed that arsenic concentrations in water declined from the initial concentrations (50?μg/L, 500?μg/L, and 1000?μg/L) to lower than the detection limit (0.1?μg/L) and about 80% of arsenic removed was accumulated in the fern fronds. The improved hydroponics method for P. vittata developed in this study enables low-cost phytoremediation of arsenic-contaminated water and high-affinity removal of arsenic from water.     

Variation of Total and Speciated Arsenic in Commonly Consumed Fish and Seafood

This article compiles available data and presents an approach for predicting human intakes of inorganic arsenic (As_i), monomethylarsonic acid (MMA), and dimethylarsinic acid (DMA) from marine, estuarine, and freshwater seafood when only total arsenic (As_tot) concentrations are reported. Twenty studies provided data on total arsenic (As_tot) and As_i. Mean As_i concentrations were approximately 10 to 20 ng/g wet weight (ww) in freshwater, anadromous, and marine fish, whereas crustaceans and molluscs had mean As_i concentrations of 40 to 50 ng/g ww. Thirteen studies provided data for MMA and DMA. MMA was seldom detected, whereas DMA averaged 10 ng/g ww in freshwater fish, and 45 to 95 ng/g ww in anadromous fish, marine fish, crustaceans, and molluscs. There was little correlation between As_tot concentrations and As_i concentrations; however, when only As_tot data are available to assess health risks from arsenic in seafood, these data could support conservative, upper end estimates of the percent of As_tot likely to be As_i. For marine and estuarine fish, and crustaceans and molluscs 2–3% of As_tot was As_i at the 75th percentile of the dataset. For freshwater fish As_i was 10% of As_tot at the 75th percentile. Due to the nonlinearity and low carcinogenic potency of DMA, the reported DMA concentrations should not contribute substantially to potential health risks from arsenic in seafood.     

水稻对砷的吸收及代谢机制研究进展

砷（As）是一种广泛存在的致癌的微量元素。环境中日益严重的As污染问题,影响了水稻的生长和品质,并通过食物链进一步威胁着人类健康。为降低食物链中As的污染并提高水稻对As的耐性,需要深入了解水稻对As的吸收及As在水稻体内转运、代谢过程的生理及分子生物学机制。本文就以上几个问题综述了近些年来国内外的研究结果,并对今后深入研究提出建议。