Blood arsenic: Pan-India prevalence.

INTRODUCTION: Arsenic, a well-known toxic element, has become one of the biggest causes for clinical concerns among elemental toxicities. Arsenicosis has been reported from many regions of the country, especially on exposure induced by ground water contamination. The clinical effects of chronic arsenic toxicity are generally varied and its timely diagnosis and management pose a big challenge.

METHODOLOGY: Our study reports analysis of blood arsenic levels in a pan-India cohort of 205,530 including 111,737 males and 93,793 females respectively. The cohort included all age groups from infants to old adults. Arsenic levels were analyzed using the analytical platform of ICP-MS touted to be the gold standard for elemental analysis.

RESULT: Blood arsenic levels of ≥5 μg/L were considered high in our study. The total frequency of high arsenic cases detected in the study is 1.37%. The frequency in males was 1.47% and in females it was detected to be 1.25%. Also, maximum cases of high arsenic levels were detected to be from the state of Kerala and in cities from Mumbai.

CONCLUSION: Very few studies have recorded the frequency of high arsenic levels in Indians as well as its average blood levels in a pan-India cohort. Our study has made a pilot attempt to highlight the same to generate awareness about this elemental menace in the Indian context.