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Arsenic in food and water – a brief history

Department of Physics, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA

R Wilson

Department of Physics, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA wilson5{at}fas.harvard.edu

Arsenic has been used for millenia. Although it has been known for many years that arsenic is soon fatal when ingested at high doses, the effects of low dosages became apparent in the 1980s. The full societal implications are only now becoming clear. It is now known to pose the highest calculated risk of any substance regulated by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); high concentrations have been found in drinking water in many countries. In Bangladesh, in particular, the number of people suffering from over exposure vastly exceeds the number affected by the catastrophic accident at Chernobyl. This article shows the development of the human understanding about chronic arsenic poisoning with Bangladesh as a particular example.

Key Words: arsenic • Bangladesh • cancer • chronic poisoning • well • fowler

Toxicology and Industrial Health, Vol. 24, No. 4, 217-226 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/0748233708094096


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