Does low-level arsenic exposure cause diabetes? New EHP study says maybe.
Out today in EHP. By me. Here's the lede:
Long-term exposure to inorganic arsenic through drinking water and food is known to cause skin lesions and carry an elevated risk of cancer, among other health effects. There is also evidence that high levels of exposure might increase an individual’s risk of type 2 diabetes. The connection is less clear at the low-to-moderate arsenic levels common in groundwater across the United States, but a prospective study in Environmental Health Perspectives takes a step toward clarifying the relationship.
And, farther down, some key findings:
...among the 1,376 participants with no evidence of diabetes or prediabetes at the start of the study, individuals in the top tertile of exposure (urinary arsenic above 7.2 μg/g) were estimated to be twice as likely to develop diabetes during the study period as individuals in the lowest tertile of exposure (urinary arsenic below 2.9 μg/g).
Long-term exposure to inorganic arsenic through drinking water and food is known to cause skin lesions and carry an elevated risk of cancer, among other health effects. There is also evidence that high levels of exposure might increase an individual’s risk of type 2 diabetes. The connection is less clear at the low-to-moderate arsenic levels common in groundwater across the United States, but a prospective study in Environmental Health Perspectives takes a step toward clarifying the relationship.
And, farther down, some key findings:
...among the 1,376 participants with no evidence of diabetes or prediabetes at the start of the study, individuals in the top tertile of exposure (urinary arsenic above 7.2 μg/g) were estimated to be twice as likely to develop diabetes during the study period as individuals in the lowest tertile of exposure (urinary arsenic below 2.9 μg/g).
Comments
Post a Comment