Assessment of usefulness of synchrotron radiation techniques to determine arsenic species in hair and rice grain samples.

The arseniasis in Southwest Guizhou, China has been identified as a unique case of endemic arseniasis caused by exposure to indoor combustion of high As-content coal. Present investigation targeted the microdistribution and speciation of the element arsenic in human hair and environmental samples collected in one of the hyper-endemic villages of arseniasis in the area. Analyses were performed by micro-beam X-ray fluorescence (μ-XRF) and X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS).

Arseniasis prevalence and mortality in a multiethnic, endemic township in Guizhou, China.

Objective: Farmers in Southwest Guizhou Autonomous Prefecture, China, represent a unique case of arseniasis, which is related to indoor combustion of high arsenic-containing coal instead of to arsenic-contaminated drinking water. A significant difference in the prevalence of arseniasis was observed in two neighboring ethnic clans in one village. The question arose whether the ethnicity-dependent difference observed in this village was more widely spread throughout the whole township.

A follow-up study of mortality among the arseniasis patients exposed to indoor combustion of high arsenic coal in Southwest Guizhou Autonomous Prefecture, China.

Objective: This study was directed to ascertain the mortality of a group of arseniasis patients in an endemic rural township in Southwest China, where the residents were exposed for decades to indoor combustion of high arsenic coal.

Methods: All the diagnosed arseniasis cases registered in 1991 were defined as the target population, which were assigned to three symptom subgroups by the severity of dermal lesions. The death cases were surveyed and checked.