Title: Arsenic: 7. What are the effects of arsenic on human health?
Headings: Arsenic
Arsenic
7. What are the effects of arsenic on human health?
7.1 Can arsenic cause cancer and skin changes?
7.2 What other health problems can arsenic cause?

Content: Soluble inorganic arsenic can have immediate toxic effects. Ingestion of large amounts can lead to gastrointestinal symptoms such as severe vomiting, disturbances of the blood and circulation, damage to the nervous system, and eventually death. When not deadly, such large doses may reduce blood cell production, break up red blood cells in the circulation, enlarge the liver, color the skin, produce tingling and loss of sensation in the limbs, and cause brain damage. Long-term exposure to inorganic arsenic in drinking water in Taiwan has caused blackfoot disease, in which the blood vessels in the lower limbs are severely damaged, resulting eventually in progressive gangrene. Its occurrence in Taiwan may be influenced by factors such as poor nutrition. However, arsenic exposure has caused other forms of blood vessel disease in the limbs in several other countries. The relationship between arsenic exposure and other health effects is less clear. The evidence is strongest for high blood pressure, heart attacks and other circulatory disease. The evidence is weaker for diabetes and reproductive effects; it is weakest for strokes, long-term neurological effects, and cancer at sites other than lung, bladder, kidney and skin.