Effect of low- and high-level groundwater arsenic on peripheral blood and lung function of exposed rural women.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommended maximum contaminant level (MCL) of arsenic (As) in drinking water at 10 μg/L. Many Asian countries still have their MCL for As at 50 μg/L. The current cross sectional study was conducted on asymptomatic females (without As related skin lesions) selected from rural areas of West Bengal, Baruipur and Dhamakhali [low As 11-50 μg/L; N,93]; Kamardanga & Sibhati [high As>50 μg/L; N,70] and Boria [Control; As<10 μg/L N,118] of West Bengal, India. The study was designed to compare the status of peripheral blood and lung function due to prolonged As exposure. The lung function parameters were considered according to Miller's prediction quadrant - FVC less than 80% indicated restrictive lung, FEV1/FVC less than 70% showed obstructive lung and both FVC and FEV1/FVC less than predicted percentage exhibited combined lung function decrement. The study showed that groundwater As concentration [22.5 ± 19.2 (low), 67.8 ± 26.9 (high) and 1.02 ± 2.3 μg/L (control)] was correlated with nail As content of the enrolled women. Linear regression depicted that nail As content influenced reduction of haemoglobin (β: 0.43; 95%CI: 0.02 to -0.006; p = 0.0001) and CD56 NK cells (β: 0.53; 95%CI: 0.07 to -0.03; p = 0.0001) per 1 μg/g increase in As in nails. Multivariate logistic regression exhibited that nail As content was associated with reduction of lung function parameters [FEV1 (Exp B:1.04; 95%CI: 1.022 to 1.055; p = 0.0001) and FVC (Exp B:1.05; 95%CI: 1.03 to 1.07; p = 0.0001) per 1 μg/g increase in As in nails. Hence the study may be indicative of the fact that even in asymptomatic women, increase in chronic As exposure may weaken immune surveillance and provoke respiratory ailments.