Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2011 Jul;18(2):87-93.
doi: 10.4103/0971-6580.84258.

Mechanisms pertaining to arsenic toxicity

Affiliations

Mechanisms pertaining to arsenic toxicity

Amrit Pal Singh et al. Toxicol Int. 2011 Jul.

Abstract

Arsenic is an environmental pollutant and its contamination in the drinking water is considered as a serious worldwide environmental health threat. The chronic arsenic exposure is a cause of immense health distress as it accounts for the increased risk of various disorders such as cardiovascular abnormalities, diabetes mellitus, neurotoxicity, and nephrotoxicity. In addition, the exposure to arsenic has been suggested to affect the liver function and to induce hepatotoxicity. Moreover, few studies demonstrated the induction of carcinogenicity especially cancer of the skin, bladder, and lungs after the chronic exposure to arsenic. The present review addresses diverse mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of arsenic-induced toxicity and end-organ damage.

Keywords: Arsenic; carcinogenicity; cardiovascular dysfunction; diabetes; hepatotoxicity; nephrotoxicity; neurotoxicity.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Pathological mechanisms involved in arsenic-induced cardiovascular dysfunction
Figure 2
Figure 2
Pathological mechanisms involved in arsenic-induced diabetes
Figure 3
Figure 3
Pathological mechanisms involved in arsenic-induced neurotoxicity
Figure 4
Figure 4
Pathological mechanisms involved in arsenic-induced hepatotoxicity and nephrotoxicity
Figure 5
Figure 5
Pathological mechanisms involved in arsenic-induced carcinogenicity

References

    1. Fact sheet no. 210. Geneva: WHO; 1999. WHO (World Health Organization)
    1. Steinmaus C, Carrigan K, Kalman D, Atallah R, Yuan Y, Smith AH. Dietary intake and arsenic methylation in a U.S. population. Environ Health Perspect. 2005;113:1153–9. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Arsenic in drinking water. Washington D C: National Academy Press; 2001. National Research Council (NRC)
    1. Kinniburgh DG, Smedley PL. Arsenic contamination of ground water in Bangladesh: Volume 2: Final report. Keyworth, Nottinghamshire: British Geological Survey. 2001
    1. Alam MG, Allinson G, Stagnitti F, Tanaka A, Westbrooke M. Arsenic contamination in Bangladesh groundwater: a major environmental and social disaster. Int J Environ Health Res. 2002;12:235–53. - PubMed