Arsenic Exposure from Drinking Water and Birth Weight

Hopenhayn, Claudia; Ferreccio, Catterina; Browning, Steven R.; Huang, Bin; Peralta, Cecilia; Gibb, Herman J.; Hertz‐Picciotto, Irva

doi:10.1097/01.ede.0000072104.65240.69

Cited by 207 publications

(137 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…Chronic exposure is linked to skin, bladder, lung, liver and kidney carcinogenesis as well as skin hyperkeratoses, and cardiovascular and immunological effects [National Research Council (US) Subcommittee on Arsenic in Drinking Water, 2001]. Prenatal arsenic exposures, in some cases at low levels of exposure, have been linked to reduced birth weight (Cnattingius, 2004;Guan et al, 2012;Hopenhayn et al, 2003;Huyck et al, 2007;Llanos and Ronco, 2009;Rahman et al, 2009;Xu et al, 2011;Yang et al, 2003) although other studies have not observed this association (Kwok et al, 2006;Saha et al, 2012), or have linked exposure to spontaneous abortion or neonatal death, thereby eliminating more subtle effects at birth (Myers et al, 2010;Sohel et al, 2010). Although the overt phenotypes resulting from arsenic exposure are well documented, the mechanistic basis of its toxicity remains unclear, as this metalloid is not overtly genotoxic.…”

Section: Dna Methylationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of environmental exposure on human epigenetic regulation

Marsit

2015

Journal of Experimental Biology

188

119

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Environmental toxicants can alter epigenetic regulatory features such as DNA methylation and microRNA expression. As the sensitivity of epigenomic regulatory features may be greatest during the in utero period, when critical windows are narrow, and when epigenomic profiles are being set, this review will highlight research focused on that period. I will focus on work in human populations, where the impact of environmental toxicants in utero, including cigarette smoke and toxic trace metals such as arsenic, mercury and manganese, on genome-wide, gene-specific DNA methylation has been assessed. In particular, arsenic is highlighted, as this metalloid has been the focus of a number of studies and its detoxification mechanisms are well understood. Importantly, the tissues and cells being examined must be considered in context in order to interpret the findings of these studies. For example, by studying the placenta, it is possible to identify potential epigenetic adaptations of key genes and pathways that may alter the developmental course in line with the developmental origins of health and disease paradigm. Alternatively, studies of newborn cord blood can be used to examine how environmental exposure in utero can impact the composition of cells within the peripheral blood, leading to immunological effects of exposure. The results suggest that in humans, like other vertebrates, there is a susceptibility for epigenomic alteration by the environment during intrauterine development, and this may represent a mechanism of plasticity of the organism in response to its environment as well as a mechanism through which long-term health consequences can be shaped.

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Section: Dna Methylationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of environmental exposure on human epigenetic regulation

Marsit

2015

Journal of Experimental Biology

188

119

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“…There are also a few studies indicating that infants born to women who drink water with elevated arsenic concentrations during pregnancy have a lower birthweight (Hopenhayn et al, 2003b;Yang et al, 2003;Huyck et al, 2007). Two of the studies, in north-eastern Taiwan (up to 3,600 µg/L; 85 % above 50 µg/L in the drinking water) and northern Chile (average 40 µg/L in the water), showed 30 and 57 g lower birthweights in infants weighing on average 3,133 and 3,398 g, respectively.…”

Section: Effects Of Arsenic On Foetal Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Scientific Opinion on Arsenic in Food

2009

EFSA Journal

828

220

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The EFSA Panel on Contaminants in the Food Chain (CONTAM Panel) assessed the risks to human health related to the presence of arsenic in food. More than 100,000 occurrence data on arsenic in food were considered with approximately 98 % reported as total arsenic. Making a number of assumptions for the contribution of inorganic arsenic to total arsenic, the inorganic arsenic exposure from food and water across 19 European countries, using lower bound and upper bound concentrations, has been estimated to range from 0.13 to 0.56 µg/kg bodyweight (b.w.) per day for average consumers, and from 0.37 to 1.22 µg/kg b.w. per day for 95 th percentile consumers. Dietary exposure to inorganic arsenic for children under three years of age is in general estimated to be from 2 to 3-fold that of adults. The CONTAM Panel concluded that the provisional tolerable weekly intake (PTWI) of 15 µg/kg b.w. established by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) is no longer appropriate as data had shown that inorganic arsenic causes cancer of the lung and urinary bladder in addition to skin, and that a range of adverse effects had been reported at exposures lower than those reviewed by the JECFA. The CONTAM Panel modelled the dose-response data from key for providing consumption information and calculating exposure, the partners of the EFSA project on the "Individual food consumption data and exposure" coordinated by Ghent University (Department of Public Health, University Hospital, Ghent University, Belgium), and RIKILT (Institute of Food Safety, Wageningen, The Netherlands) for the accessibility of the exposure assessment tools. 4 Table of contents shows now the fourth level of subheadings. 5 An error in the interpretation of the total number of the population in the study of Rahman et al. (2006a) was discovered (Table 41). The BMDL was recalculated and as a consequence it was not considered a potential reference point. The text in the opinion, Table 43 and Appendix were revised accordingly. In addition, the header of the "total number of cases" was replaced by "total number of individuals" in Tables 40-42 and the erroneous units were corrected to µg/L in the text below SUMMARYArsenic is a metalloid that occurs in different inorganic and organic forms, which are found in the environment both from natural occurrence and from anthropogenic activity. The inorganic forms of arsenic are more toxic as compared to the organic arsenic but so far most of the occurrence data in food collected in the framework of official food control are still reported as total arsenic without differentiating the various arsenic species. The need for speciation data is evident because several investigations have shown that especially in seafood most of the arsenic is present in organic forms that are less toxic. Consequently, a risk assessment not taking into account the different species but considering total arsenic as being present exclusively as inorganic arsenic would lead to a considerable overestimation of the health risk rel...

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“…Además, trae consecuencias a la reproducción humana, ya que puede inducir abortos espontáneos, muerte perinatal, bajo peso al nacer y malformaciones congénitas [12][13] .…”

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