A Morbid Condition Involving Cardio-vascular, Broncho-pulmonary, Digestive and Neural Lesions in Children and Young Adults After Dietary Arsenic Exposure

An investigation on the relationship between dietary arsenic exposure and cardiovascular diseases was made. In Antofagasta Commune, northern Chile, since 1955 arsenic has polluted public drinking water. This environmental contamination is of geological origin. The concentration of arsenic in drinking water for the 1955-1970 period was 0.5980 ppm (weighted mean). In the period June 1970-March 1972, the concentration decreased to 0.0815 ppm (weighted mean), due to a Water Filtration Plant which started operating in May 1970. Greater Santiago showed 0.00 ppm of arsenic in drinking water. Amongst 10 autopsied patients (age range: 1 year 7 months to 18 years) with chronic arsenical dermatosis from Antofagasta Commune, 9 showed marked fibrous intimal thickening of the arterial wall and/or restricted lumen of the left coronary artery, 2 of these 9 also exhibiting myocardial infarction. Of the 10 patients, 7 developed cardiomegaly, which was related to chronic exposure to dietary arsenic. Two series of patients with myocardial infarction under 40 years of age, one from Antofagasta Commune (exposed to arsenic), the other from Greater Santiago (not exposed to arsenic) were compared. The Yates' corrected chi 2 value (1 d.f.) being 11.7776. The difference was statistically highly significant (P approximately equal to 0.0006018). Furthermore, in Antofagasta Commune, the number of cases (< 40 yr) which had myocardial infarction with chronic arsenical dermatosis were compared with the cases (< 40 yr) which showed myocardial infarction without chronic arsenical dermatosis. The Yates' corrected chi 2 value (1 d.f.) was 13.0395. A highly significant difference was detected (P approximately equal to 0.0003044). Children (0-15 yr)from the two cities were also compared.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)