Arsenic in water may contribute to diabetes
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
CHICAGO — Research published on August 19 in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) has linked low-level arsenic exposure, including possibly through drinking water, to type 2 diabetes, according to an August 19 Associated Press report on CNN.
Through the analysis of 788 Americans’ medical tests, researchers at Johns Hopkins University found that subjects with low levels of inorganic arsenic loads in their urine carried more than triple the risk of developing the disease than those with even lower arsenic loads. This data follows previous research that indicates an increased risk of diabetes with high levels of arsenic exposure.
How arsenic contributes to diabetes is not yet known, but studies have found impaired insulin secretion in pancreatic cells treated with arsenic compound, according to the article.
Concerning the policy implications of the new findings, Molly Kile, an environmental health research scientist at the Harvard School of Public Health, wrote an accompanying editorial in JAMA, stating, “Urinary arsenic reflects exposures from all routes — air, water and food — which makes it difficult to track the actual source of arsenic exposure let alone use the results from this study to establish drinking water standards.”
Known cancer risks linked to arsenic caused the arsenic limit in public water systems to be lowered to 10 parts per billion in 2001, and it is recommended that private well owners self-test their water. The US Geological Survey has mapped the level of groundwater contamination by arsenic, which can be viewed here.
Johns Hopkins University has begun a larger study of 4,000 people, according to the article.
To read the full article, click here.
For related information on this story, click here.
Read at http://www.watertechonline.com/news.asp?N_ID=70472
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
CHICAGO — Research published on August 19 in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) has linked low-level arsenic exposure, including possibly through drinking water, to type 2 diabetes, according to an August 19 Associated Press report on CNN.
Through the analysis of 788 Americans’ medical tests, researchers at Johns Hopkins University found that subjects with low levels of inorganic arsenic loads in their urine carried more than triple the risk of developing the disease than those with even lower arsenic loads. This data follows previous research that indicates an increased risk of diabetes with high levels of arsenic exposure.
How arsenic contributes to diabetes is not yet known, but studies have found impaired insulin secretion in pancreatic cells treated with arsenic compound, according to the article.
Concerning the policy implications of the new findings, Molly Kile, an environmental health research scientist at the Harvard School of Public Health, wrote an accompanying editorial in JAMA, stating, “Urinary arsenic reflects exposures from all routes — air, water and food — which makes it difficult to track the actual source of arsenic exposure let alone use the results from this study to establish drinking water standards.”
Known cancer risks linked to arsenic caused the arsenic limit in public water systems to be lowered to 10 parts per billion in 2001, and it is recommended that private well owners self-test their water. The US Geological Survey has mapped the level of groundwater contamination by arsenic, which can be viewed here.
Johns Hopkins University has begun a larger study of 4,000 people, according to the article.
To read the full article, click here.
For related information on this story, click here.
Read at http://www.watertechonline.com/news.asp?N_ID=70472
