Impact of treated drinking water on arsenicosis patients with continuous consumption of contaminated dietary foodstuffs: A longitudinal health effect study from arsenic prone area, West Bengal, India

Abstract

Health effect and future risk assessment have been evaluated for a year on a group of arsenicosis patients (n = 24) examining the impact of treated surface water with continuous consumption of arsenic-contaminated dietary foodstuffs. The daily dietary intake rate of arsenic through cooked rice is 5.50 μg/kg bw/day, which is much higher than PTDI recommended value compared to cooked vegetables and treated drinking water. The effect of acute toxicity showed a decreasing trend of 42.9% arsenic in urine (n = 24) after 6 months. Scalp hair (n = 19) and nail (n = 18) arsenic concentration showed a decreasing trend of 39.3% (range: 1.34–86.2%) and 36.9% (range: 0.88–85%), respectively after 12 months. The body hair (hand and leg) and skin scale arsenic accumulation showed high and diverse distribution pattern. Excretion of arsenic through sweat was higher than urine with a mean concentration of 34.7 μg/L (range: 4.76–65 μg/L). Chronic arsenic exposure for a long period of time is the considerable pathway to severe dermatological skin manifestations in the arsenical patients. One-way ANOVA (Tukey-test) interpretation showed a significant relationship between arsenic intakes, biological tissues and dermatological manifestations within the studied groups. Linear mixed modelling showed differential temporal trends of arsenic levels through biomarkers for both studied male and female patients. The SAMOE value for treated drinking water and cooked vegetables showed low to moderate concern level (class 3), whereas, high concern level (class 5) was observed for cooked rice. The future cancer and non-cancerous risk predominantly exists through consumption of rice compared to vegetables and treated drinking water. Supplementation of arsenic-safe drinking water and nutritional food is highly recommended for the arsenic patients to fight against the devastating arsenic calamity.