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Arsenic Exposure in Environment and Human Health

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A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Health".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2020) | Viewed by 61678

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Special Issue Editor

Dr. Debapriya Mondal

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Guest Editor

Environment and Life Sciences, University of Salford, Manchester, United Kingdom
Interests: environmental chemistry; heavy metals; arsenic; pollution; exposure assessment; health risk assessment; biomarkers; public health

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Arsenic in drinking water is a major cause of health issues, including cancer, in many countries across the world. The most severely affected areas are in Southeast Asia, notably Bangladesh and West Bengal in India. Every year, several tens of thousands premature deaths are attributable to arsenic exposure from drinking water and more recently from food. Rice is already known to be a major route of arsenic exposure especially in areas where arsenic in drinking water is low. Due to the health risks from arsenic exposure from rice consumption, the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives recommended a maximum level of 0.2 mg/kg of inorganic arsenic in polished rice and 0.4 mg/kg for brown rice. However, this regulation is not enacted in many countries.

This Special Issue in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is devoted to recent findings on “Arsenic Exposure in Environment and Human Health” to make substantial contribution to knowledge gaps in understanding of pathways of exposure and associated health risks to decide mitigation and management of arsenic in the environment.

Wide range of topics will be included in this issue, related to, but not limited to, arsenic concentrations in food and beverages, in particular rice, wheat and vegetables; exposure routes and biomarkers that may be used as proxies for arsenic exposure; various models for estimating health risk of arsenic and in particular their variation between different sub-groups and vulnerable populations; and management of arsenic health risks through regulation and effective treatment.

Dr. Debapriya Mondal
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2500 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

arsenic
drinking water
arsenic in rice
arsenic in wheat
arsenic speciation
human health risk
bioavailability and bio-accessibility of arsenic
risk assessment

Published Papers (13 papers)

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Research

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20 pages, 5535 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Impact of Covid-19 Lockdown on Availability of Drinking Water in the Arsenic-Affected Ganges River Basin

by Srimanti Duttagupta, Soumendra N. Bhanja, Avishek Dutta, Soumyajit Sarkar, Madhumita Chakraborty, Ashok Ghosh, Debapriya Mondal and Abhijit Mukherjee

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(6), 2832; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph18062832 - 10 Mar 2021

Cited by 19 | Viewed by 6131

Abstract

The 2020 COVID-19 pandemic has not only resulted in immense loss of human life, but it also rampaged across the global economy and socio-cultural structure. Worldwide, countries imposed stringent mass quarantine and lockdowns to curb the transmission of the pathogen. While the efficacy of such lockdown is debatable, several reports suggest that the reduced human activities provided an inadvertent benefit by briefly improving air and water quality. India observed a 68-days long, nation-wide, stringent lockdown between 24 March and 31 May 2020. Here, we delineate the impact of the lockdown on groundwater and river sourced drinking water sustainability in the arsenic polluted Ganges river basin of India, which is regarded as one of the largest and most polluted river basins in the world. Using groundwater arsenic measurements from drinking water wells and water quality data from river monitoring stations, we have studied ~700 km stretches of the middle and lower reaches of the As (arsenic)-polluted parts of the river for pre-lockdown (January–March 2020), syn-lockdown (April–May), and post-lockdown periods (June–July). We provide the extent of As pollution-free groundwater vis-à-vis river water and examine alleviation from lockdown as an opportunity for sustainable drinking water sources. The overall decrease of biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) concentrations and increase of pH suggests a general improvement in Ganges water quality during the lockdown in contrast to pre-and-post lockdown periods, potentially caused by reduced effluent. We also demonstrate that land use (agricultural/industrial) and land cover (urban-periurban/rural) in the vicinity of the river reaches seems to have a strong influence on river pollutants. The observations provide a cautious optimistic scenario for potentially developing sustainable drinking water sources in the arsenic-affected Ganges river basin in the future by using these observations as the basis of proper scientifically prudent, spatially adaptive strategies, and technological interventions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Arsenic Exposure in Environment and Human Health)

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18 pages, 3702 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Revisiting the Village Where Arsenic Contamination of Underground Water Was First Discovered in Bangladesh: Twenty-Five Years Later

by Maiko Sakamoto

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(1), 259; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph18010259 - 31 Dec 2020

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2295

Abstract

A survey was conducted in an As-affected village of Bangladesh—the first discovery of As contamination in the country—to assess the current situation and how implementation activities have worked to mitigate the problem. The As testing showed that the levels were less than the Bangladesh standard (50 µg/L) in all shallow tube-wells throughout the village. The questionnaire survey was conducted in the village as well as a neighboring As-affected village for comparison. The results revealed that there was a significant number of people using shallow tube-wells in both villages despite knowing that these wells could be contaminated with As and that safe water was available through a pipeline water supply. About 70% of responding households possessed their own water sources, mostly shallow tube-wells, and owners were less likely to choose tap water for drinking purpose than nonowners. In the village where As contamination was first reported, those individuals with a higher level of education and strong ties with neighbors were more likely to use shallow tube-well water for drinking purposes rather than tap water. This study suggests several measures to mobilize people to get safe water, namely providing subsides to install private taps, supplying public taps, and marketing and distributing handy water quality tests for households. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Arsenic Exposure in Environment and Human Health)

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17 pages, 3156 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Groundwater Arsenic Distribution in India by Machine Learning Geospatial Modeling

by Joel Podgorski, Ruohan Wu, Biswajit Chakravorty and David A. Polya

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(19), 7119; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph17197119 - 28 Sep 2020

Cited by 54 | Viewed by 7250

Abstract

Groundwater is a critical resource in India for the supply of drinking water and for irrigation. Its usage is limited not only by its quantity but also by its quality. Among the most important contaminants of groundwater in India is arsenic, which naturally accumulates in some aquifers. In this study we create a random forest model with over 145,000 arsenic concentration measurements and over two dozen predictor variables of surface environmental parameters to produce hazard and exposure maps of the areas and populations potentially exposed to high arsenic concentrations (>10 µg/L) in groundwater. Statistical relationships found between the predictor variables and arsenic measurements are broadly consistent with major geochemical processes known to mobilize arsenic in aquifers. In addition to known high arsenic areas, such as along the Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers, we have identified several other areas around the country that have hitherto not been identified as potential arsenic hotspots. Based on recent reported rates of household groundwater use for rural and urban areas, we estimate that between about 18–30 million people in India are currently at risk of high exposure to arsenic through their drinking water supply. The hazard models here can be used to inform prioritization of groundwater quality testing and environmental public health tracking programs. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Arsenic Exposure in Environment and Human Health)

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7 pages, 966 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Simplified Questionnaire for the Assessment of Inorganic Arsenic Intake in a Japanese Population

by Jun Yoshinaga, Yuki Serizawa, Shota Suzuki, Md Hasan Al Amin, Naoko Yamada and Tomohiro Narukawa

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(17), 6252; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph17176252 - 27 Aug 2020

Viewed by 1877

Abstract

A simplified questionnaire was developed to assess inorganic arsenic (iAs) intake level in a Japanese population. The two page questionnaire included photographs of single serving sizes of rice and cooked hijiki (Hizikia fusiforme: brown algae), and asked subjects about the number of servings of rice and cooked hijiki, two predominant dietary sources of iAs in Japan, they consume in a day. Daily intake of iAs was estimated for 72 Japanese subjects using the questionnaire together with data of iAs content in rice and hijiki seaweed, and the estimated intakes were compared with actual iAs intakes of the subjects as measured for a duplicate diet using liquid chromatography–inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. A highly significant correlation was found between the estimated and measured intakes (r = 0.65, p < 0.001); however, the slope of regression indicated a systematic error in the intake estimation. Possible sources of error are discussed herein. It was concluded that this approach is promising if minor improvements are made to the questionnaire. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Arsenic Exposure in Environment and Human Health)

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21 pages, 641 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Factors Affecting Arsenic Methylation in Contaminated Italian Areas

by Elisa Bustaffa, Francesca Gorini, Fabrizio Bianchi and Fabrizio Minichilli

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(14), 5226; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph17145226 - 20 Jul 2020

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 3077

Abstract

Chronic arsenic (As) exposure is a critical public health issue. The As metabolism can be influenced by many factors. The objective of this study is to verify if these factors influence As metabolism in four Italian areas affected by As pollution. Descriptive analyses were conducted on 271 subjects aged 20–49 in order to assess the effect of each factor considered on As methylation. Percentages of metabolites of As in urine, primary and secondary methylation indexes were calculated as indicators for metabolic capacity. The results indicate that women have a better methylation capacity (MC) than men, and drinking As-contaminated water from public aqueducts is associated with poorer MC, especially in areas with natural As pollution. In areas with anthropogenic As pollution occupational exposure is associated with a higher MC while smoking with a poorer MC. Dietary habits and genetic characteristics are probably implicated in As metabolism. BMI, alcohol consumption and polymorphism of the AS3MT gene seem not to influence As MC. Arsenic metabolism may be affected by various factors and in order to achieve a comprehensive risk assessment of As-associated disease, it is crucial to understand how these factors contribute to differences in As metabolism. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Arsenic Exposure in Environment and Human Health)

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12 pages, 2842 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Arsenic in Hair as a Marker of Exposure to Smoke from the Burning of Treated Wood in Domestic Wood Burners

by Kim N. Dirks, Alana Chester, Jennifer A. Salmond, Nicholas Talbot, Simon Thornley and Perry Davy

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(11), 3944; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph17113944 - 02 Jun 2020

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2261

Abstract

Timber treated with the anti-fungal chemical copper chrome arsenate is used extensively in the New Zealand building industry. While illegal, the burning of treated timber is commonplace in New Zealand and presents a health risk. Outdoor ambient monitoring of arsenic in airborne particulate matter in New Zealand has identified levels that exceed the maximum standards of 5.5 ng m⁻³ (annual average) at some urban locations. In this study, two-week-old beard hair samples were collected during the winter months to establish individual exposure to arsenic using Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry. These results were then compared with questionnaire data about wood burner use for the two weeks prior to sampling, and spatial trends in arsenic from ambient monitoring. Results suggest that the burning of construction timber that may contain arsenic is associated with a higher level of arsenic in hair than those who burn logs or coal exclusively. There is no association between the area-level density of wood burners and arsenic levels but a significant correlation with individual household choice of fuel as well as the smell of wood smoke in the community, suggesting very localised influences. Strategies are needed to raise awareness of the risks of burning treated timber and to provide economically-viable alternatives. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Arsenic Exposure in Environment and Human Health)

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26 pages, 19723 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Distribution and Geochemical Controls of Arsenic and Uranium in Groundwater-Derived Drinking Water in Bihar, India

by Laura A. Richards, Arun Kumar, Prabhat Shankar, Aman Gaurav, Ashok Ghosh and David A. Polya

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(7), 2500; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph17072500 - 06 Apr 2020

Cited by 36 | Viewed by 6795

Abstract

Chronic exposure to groundwater containing elevated concentrations of geogenic contaminants such as arsenic (As) and uranium (U) can lead to detrimental health impacts. In this study, we have undertaken a groundwater survey of representative sites across all districts of the State of Bihar, in the Middle Gangetic Plain of north-eastern India. The aim is to characterize the inorganic major and trace element aqueous geochemistry in groundwater sources widely used for drinking in Bihar, with a particular focus on the spatial distribution and associated geochemical controls on groundwater As and U. Concentrations of As and U are highly heterogeneous across Bihar, exceeding (provisional) guideline values in ~16% and 7% of samples (n = 273), respectively. The strongly inverse correlation between As and U is consistent with the contrasting redox controls on As and U mobility. High As is associated with Fe, Mn, lower Eh and is depth-dependent; in contrast, high U is associated with HCO₃⁻, NO₃⁻ and higher Eh. The improved understanding of the distribution and geochemical controls on As and U in Bihar has important implications on remediation priorities and selection, and may contribute to informing further monitoring and/or representative characterization efforts in Bihar and elsewhere in India. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Arsenic Exposure in Environment and Human Health)

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11 pages, 1270 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Arsenic Concentrations and Dietary Exposure in Rice-Based Infant Food in Australia

by Zhuyun Gu, Shamali de Silva and Suzie M. Reichman

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(2), 415; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph17020415 - 08 Jan 2020

Cited by 24 | Viewed by 9658

Abstract

Rice-based products are widely used to feed infants and young children. However, the association of rice-based products and high arsenic (As) concentrations have been investigated in a number of studies, but there is limited information from Australia. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the As concentration and dietary exposure in infant rice milk, cereal, crackers and pasta as well as to investigate the relationship between As concentration and rice content, rice type and product origin. Total arsenic (tAs) concentrations were determined by nitric acid digestion and ICP-MS while inorganic arsenic (iAs) was determined by acid extraction, followed by ICP-MS with an interfaced hydride generation system. Nearly 75% of samples had inorganic As exceeding the EU maximum levels for infants and children (0.1 mg kg⁻¹) and the mean iAs percentage of total reached as high as 84.8%. High tAs concentration was positively correlated with rice content and also related to brown (wholegrain). Estimates of dietary exposure showed that infants consuming large amounts of rice pasta or crackers will have an increased risk of health impact associated with excess intake of As through dietary exposure. Moreover, the current Australian guidelines for As in rice (1 mg kg⁻¹) are above the WHO or EU guideline and therefore, will be less protective of high sensitivity consumers like infants and children. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Arsenic Exposure in Environment and Human Health)

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14 pages, 4230 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Health Risk Assessment of Different Heavy Metals Dissolved in Drinking Water

by Sajjad Hussain, Muhammad Habib-Ur-Rehman, Tasawar Khanam, Abbas Sheer, Zhang Kebin and Yang Jianjun

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2019, 16(10), 1737; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph16101737 - 16 May 2019

Cited by 58 | Viewed by 6426

Abstract

Water pollution is a major threat to public health worldwide. The health risks of ingesting trace elements in drinking water were assessed in the provinces of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Eight trace elements were measured in drinking water, using Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS), and compared with permissible limits established by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency (Pak EPA). In addition, health risk indicators such as the chronic daily intake (CDI) and the health risk index (HRI) were calculated. Our results showed that the concentrations of chromium (Cr), nickel (Ni), and manganese (Mn) were 2593, 1306, and 695 ng/g, respectively, in Lahore and Jhang, while the concentrations of arsenic (As) in Lahore, Vehari, Multan, and Jhang were 51, 50.4, 24, and 22 ng/g, respectively, which were higher than the permissible limits suggested by the WHO. The values of CDI were found to be in the order of Cr > Ni > Mn > Cu > As > Pb > Co > Cd. Similarly, the health risk index (HRI) values exceeded the safe limits (>1) in many cities (eg, Cr and Ni in Lahore and As in Vehari, Jhang, Lahore, and Multan). The aforementioned analysis shows that consumption of trace element-contaminated water poses an emerging health danger to the populations of these localities. Furthermore, inter-metal correlation and principal component analysis (PCA) showed that both anthropogenic and geologic activities were primary sources of drinking water contamination in the investigated areas. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Arsenic Exposure in Environment and Human Health)

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18 pages, 13718 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Arsenic Distribution Assessment in a Residential Area Polluted with Mining Residues

by Carlos B. Manjarrez-Domínguez, Jesús A. Prieto-Amparán, M. Cecilia Valles-Aragón, M. Del Rosario Delgado-Caballero, M. Teresa Alarcón-Herrera, Myrna C. Nevarez-Rodríguez, Griselda Vázquez-Quintero and Cesar A. Berzoza-Gaytan

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2019, 16(3), 375; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph16030375 - 29 Jan 2019

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 3015

Abstract

Mining is a major source for metals and metalloids pollution, which could pose a risk for human health. In San Guillermo, Chihuahua, Mexico mining wastes are found adjacent to a residential area. A soil-surface sampling was performed, collecting 88 samples for arsenic determination by atomic absorption. Arsenic concentration data set was interpolated using the ArcGis models: inverse distance weighting (IDW), ordinary kriging (OK), and radial basis function (RBF). For method validation purposes, a set of the data was selected and two tests were performed (P1 and P2). In P1 the models were processed without the validation data; in P2 the validation data were removed one by one, models were processed every time that a data point was removed. An arsenic concentration range of 22.7 to 2190 mg/kg was reported. The 39% of data set was classified as contaminated soil and 61% as industrial land use. In P1 the method of interpolation with the lowest RMSE was RBF (0.80), the highest coefficient of E was RBF (46.25), and the highest Ceff value was with RBF (0.48). In P2 the method with the lowest RMSE was OK (0.76), the highest E value was 50.65 with OK, and the Ceff reported the highest value with OK (0.52). The high arsenic contamination in soil of the site indicates an abundant dispersion of this metalloid. Furthermore, the difference between the models was not very wide. The incorporation of more parameters would be of interest to observe the behavior of interpolation methods. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Arsenic Exposure in Environment and Human Health)

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Review

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24 pages, 2162 KiB

Open AccessReview

Positive Association of Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) with Chronic Exposure to Drinking Water Arsenic (As) at Concentrations below the WHO Provisional Guideline Value: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

by Lingqian Xu, Debapriya Mondal and David A. Polya

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(7), 2536; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph17072536 - 07 Apr 2020

Cited by 48 | Viewed by 5046 | Correction

Abstract

To the best of our knowledge, a dose-response meta-analysis of the relationship between cardiovascular disease (CVD) and arsenic (As) exposure at drinking water As concentrations lower than the WHO provisional guideline value (10 µg/L) has not been published yet. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analyses to estimate the pooled association between the relative risk of each CVD endpoint and low-level As concentration in drinking water both linearly and non-linearly using a random effects dose-response model. In this study, a significant positive association was found between the risks of most CVD outcomes and drinking water As concentration for both linear and non-linear models (p-value for trend < 0.05). Using the preferred linear model, we found significant increased risks of coronary heart disease (CHD) mortality and CVD mortality as well as combined fatal and non-fatal CHD, CVD, carotid atherosclerosis disease and hypertension in those exposed to drinking water with an As concentration of 10 µg/L compared to the referent (drinking water As concentration of 1 µg/L) population. Notwithstanding limitations included, the observed significant increased risks of CVD endpoints arising from As concentrations in drinking water between 1 µg/L and the 10 µg/L suggests further lowering of this guideline value should be considered. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Arsenic Exposure in Environment and Human Health)

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7 pages, 549 KiB

Open AccessReview

Arsenic-Induced Carcinogenesis and Immune Dysregulation

by Hsin-Wei Huang, Chih-Hung Lee and Hsin-Su Yu

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2019, 16(15), 2746; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph16152746 - 01 Aug 2019

Cited by 63 | Viewed by 4631

Abstract

Arsenic, a metal ubiquitously distributed in the environment, remains an important global health threat. Drinking arsenic-contaminated water is the major route of human exposure. Exposure to arsenic contributes to several malignancies, in the integumentary, respiratory, hepatobiliary, and urinary systems. Cutaneous lesions are important manifestations after long-term arsenic exposure. Arsenical skin cancers usually herald the development of other internal cancers, making the arsenic-induced skin carcinogenesis a good model to investigate the progression of chemical carcinogenesis. In fact, only a portion of arsenic-exposed humans eventually develop malignancies, likely attributed to the arsenic-impaired immunity in susceptible individuals. Currently, the exact pathophysiology of arsenic-induced carcinogenesis remains elusive, although increased reactive oxidative species, aberrant immune regulations, and chromosome abnormalities with uncontrolled cell growth might be involved. This review discusses how arsenic induces carcinogenesis, and how the dysregulated innate and adaptive immunities in systemic circulation and in the target organs contribute to arsenic carcinogenesis. These findings offer evidence for illustrating the mechanism of arsenic-related immune dysregulation in the progression of carcinogenesis, and this may help explain the nature of multiple and recurrent clinical lesions in arsenic-induced skin cancers. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Arsenic Exposure in Environment and Human Health)

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