Chronic Arsenic Toxicity from Drinking Well Water in a Rural Area

Background: Drinking water is the most important cause of poisoning in the world. Iran is one of the countries with arsenic-contaminated water upper limit of normal. In this study, we decided to determine the effects of chronic arsenic poisoning on demographic, clinical and laboratory features of people. Methods: This descriptive-sectional study carried out on all people resided in Shahidabad Village, Qazvin Province in 2015. All of them were evaluated in terms of demographic features, blood pressure, diabetes, dermatologic, and neurologic lesions, and fasting blood sugar. People with exclusion criteria were excluded. The data were analyzed by SPSS software and descriptive statistics. Results: Out of 400 subjects, 278 (69.5%) females and 122 (30.5%) males), 88 (22%) people had positive urine test for arsenic and 312 (78%) subjects had negative urine test. The mean age of them was 48.9&plusmn; 16.6 yr. The mean age and duration of residence in the region in arsenic positive group were significantly higher than arsenic negative group (P<0.05). Blood pressure, history of diabetes, dermatologic and neurologic lesions, and fasting blood sugar had no significant differences between two groups. Conclusion: Although there were no significant differences between two groups in terms of many clinical and laboratory findings but the prevalence of 22% of poisoning with arsenic in the selected population reveals the necessity of screening, preventive measures and appropriate treatments in people exposed to arsenic contamination.