Trace element concentration and arsenic speciation in the well water of a Taiwan area with endemic Blackfoot disease |
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Authors: | S L Chen S J Yeh M H Yang T H Lin |
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Institution: | (1) Institute of Nuclear Science, National Tsing Hua University, 300 Hsinchu, Taiwan, ROC;(2) School of Technology for Medical Sciences, Kaohsiung Medical College, 800 Kaohsiung, Taiwan |
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Abstract: | 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. |
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Keywords: | Trace elements arsenic speciation Blackfoot disease artesian well water insoluble arsenic |
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