Dear Colleagues,

Arsenic has been a pesticide, a poison, and a medicine since ancient times with descriptions of its use noted from before the Ming Dynsasty to the 20th century. As populations grow and become more concentrated, expanding pressures on water resources, arsenic increasingly enters groundwater systems from leaching and weathering of minerals, soil and rock.  Arsenic in drinking water is just one aspect of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals for 2030, which specifies achieving universal access to clean water as the third of its six goals.

Currently, about 100 million people worldwide are exposed to high levels of arsenic through their water and food.  South Asia, Inner Mongolia, Pakistan and Taiwan have been long recognized to have serious problems from chronic arsenic exposure in humans.  However, Argentina, Chile, Mexico, Germany, Spain, Italy, parts of United States, plus numerous other areas, are being identified to have high arsenic exposure of humans through food and water.

There is a wide range of research into problems leading to, or caused by chronic arsenic poisoning.  Geologists and geochemists have examined mechanisms contributing to the unpredictable spatial variation of arsenic contamination in ground water. The movement of arsenic through terrestrial and aquatic environments, and its toxicity to vertebrates is largely driven by its speciation.  Biochemical and gene-based studies examine physiological factors responsible for biotransformation and detoxification of arsenic.  The wide-ranging health effects from chronic arsenic exposure are of major medical interest. Skin lesions and neoplasias have well established dose-response relationships with chronic arsenic exposure at lower levels than originally thought. Long-term studies consistently show cardiovascular disease and atherosclerosis to have temporal and dose-related relationships with arsenic. 

This Special Issue is devoted to highlighting current research around the world, into the growing problem of arsenicosis in people with unacceptable levels of arsenic in their water and food.

Prof. Dr. Judit Smits
Dr. Rubhana Raqib
Guest Editors

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• arsenic toxicity
• adverse health effects
• mitigating chronic arsenic toxicity
• selenium antagonism of arsenic
• clinical trial
• arsenic-induced atherosclerosis