Trace element concentration and arsenic speciation in the well water of a Taiwan area with endemic Blackfoot disease

Abstract

Blackfoot disease is a peripheral vascular disease resulting in gangrene of the lower extremities. Although extensive epidemiological study has implicated high arsenic content in artesian well water in the endemic area, there is more to learn about the etiology of the disease. In this study, effort is paid on multielement determination and arsenic speciation in order to find out whether the trace element concentration pattern in well water in the Blackfoot disease endemic area is different from those of two control areas. Experimental results indicate that the concentrations of Fe, P, Na, and Ba in well water in the Blackfoot disease endemic area are found to be significantly higher than those of the controls, but they are still below the drinking water standard. The total arsenic in well water in the endemic area (671 +/- 149 ppb) is much higher than that of one normal control area of Hsin-Chu (< 0.7 ppb), but is a similar level as that of other control areas of I-Lan (653 +/- 71 ppb) where no Blackfoot disease has ever been found. It was also found that the insoluble arsenic in the endemic area (21.9 ppb) is much higher than that in two control areas (< or = 1.8 ppb), and the concentration ratio between As(III) and As(V) species in the endemic area (2.6) is much lower than that in one of the control areas, where the total arsenic is also high (14.7). The possible connection of Blackfoot disease with trace elements, arsenic species, and possibly other as yet undefined environmental factors in the artesian well water, is discussed.

Is the effect of silicon on rice uptake of arsenate (AsV) related to internal silicon concentrations, iron plaque and phosphate nutrition?

“…Groundwater contamination with As is reported from many regions of the world with the most severe problems occurring in South-East Asia, such as Bangladesh, India and China (Wang and Jiang, 1994;Chen et al, 1995;Mandal et al, 1997;Nickson et al, 1998;Chowdhury et al, 1999). Contaminated groundwater is not only used for drinking water but also extensively used for irrigation.…”

Sequestration of As by iron plaque on the roots of three rice (Oryza sativa L.) cultivars in a low-P soil with or without P fertilizer

“…However, anthropogenic activities, such as pesticide use (Maclean & Langille 1981), mining (Galbraith et al 1995), or irrigation with contaminated groundwater have significantly enhanced As levels in the environment in some locations. Arsenic contamination of groundwater has been reported from many countries, with the most severe problems occurring in Bangladesh (Dhar et al 1997;Biswas et al 1998;Nickson et al 1998;Chowdhury et al 1999), West Bengal and India (Mandal et al 1996(Mandal et al , 1997, and China (Huang et al 1992;Smith et al 1992;Liangfang & Jianghong 1994;Chen et al 1995). The people of these regions not only drink contaminated groundwater but also use it for crop irrigation.…”

Capillary Electrophoretic Determination of Selected Phenolic Compounds in Humic Substances of Well Waters and Fertilizers

“…13 In the past, most reports on the distribution of lignin-derived phenolic compounds in natural waters were concerned with riverine dissolved organic matter (DOM). [14][15][16] Upon CuO oxidation, the DOM was mainly analyzed by gas chromatography (GC), which yielded information on oxidized phenolic ratios, such as cinnamyl-to-vanillyl, syringic-to-vanillic, vanillic acid-to-vanillin and syringic acid-to-syringaldehyde units.…”