Arsenic is an element that raises much concern from the both
environmental and human health standpoints. Arsenic is one of the
most toxic metals derived from the natural environment.
In industry, arsenic is used to manufacture paints, fungicides,
insecticides, pesticides, herbicides, wood preservatives, and cotton
desiccants. As it is an essential trace element for some animals,
arsenic is an additive in animal feed.
Most arsenic gets into the body through ingestion of food or water.
Arsenic in drinking water is a problem in many countries around the
world, including Bangladesh, Chile, China, Vietnam, Taiwan, India, and
the United States. Humans may encounter arsenic in water from wells
drilled into arsenic-rich ground strata or in water contaminated by
industrial or agrochemical waste. They may come in contact with arsenic
in contaminated dusts, fumes, or mists. They may eat food contaminated
with arsenical pesticides or grown with arsenic-contaminated water or
in arsenic-rich soil.
Contamination is caused by arsenic from natural geological sources
leaching into aquifers, contaminating drinking water and may also occur
from mining and other industrial processes.
Arsenic poisoning interferes with cellular longevity by allosteric
inhibition of an essential metabolicenzyme pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH)
complex which catalyzes the reaction Pyruvate + CoA-SH +NAD+ PDH
Acetyl-Co-A + NADH + CO. With the enzyme inhibited, the energy system of
the cell isdisrupted resulting in a cellular apoptosis episode.
Symptoms of acute intoxication usually occur within 30 minutes of
ingestion but may be delayed if arsenic is taken with the food.
Initially, a patient may have a metallic taste or notice a slight
garlicky odor to the breath associated with a dry mouth and difficulty
in swallowing. Early clinical symptoms at acute arsenic intoxication may
be muscular pain, weakness with flusking skin. Severe nausea
and vomiting, colicky abdominal pain, and profuse diarrhoea with
rice-water stools abruptly ensure. Capillary damage leads to generalized
vasodilation, transudation of plasma, and vasagenice shock.
The working group of International Agency for Research on Cancer
evaluated data from ecological studies, cohort studies and
case-control studies from many countries and observed that
arsenic was potentially carcinogenic for skin cancer. Malignant
arsenical skin lesions may be Bowen’s disease (intraepithelial
carcinoma, or carcinoma in situ), basal cell carcinoma, or squamous cell
carcinoma.
Food contamination: Arsenic poisoning
Note: The maximum level of inorganic arsenic permitted in U.S. drinking
water is 10 parts per billion (ppb). This standard was set by the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Clostridium perfringens: Understanding a Common Food Poisoning Culprit
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*Clostridium perfringens,* a Gram-positive, spore-forming anaerobic
bacterium, resides naturally in the intestines of both humans and animals,
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