Changes in hair arsenic concentration in a population exposed to heavypollution: Follow-up investigation in Chenzhou City,Hunan Province, Southern China
Bin Wu , Tongbin Chen
DOI:
Received May 19, 2009,Revised November 06, 2009, Accepted , Available online
Volume 22,2010,Pages 283-289
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Follow-up investigation on hair arsenic concentration was conducted in an arsenic heavily polluted area of southern China in 2002
and 2006. The results showed that the geometric mean of hair arsenic concentration decreased from 2.95 mg/kg in 2002 to 1.78 mg/kg
in 2006, when the percentage of the population with levels over 1 mg/kg only decreased from 93.4% in 2002 to 80.5% in 2006. Over
this four-year period, the population with high arsenic concentrations decreased significantly while there was no obvious change in hair
arsenic concentration for people who had relatively low concentrations. In terms of age distribution, young and old people had higher
hair arsenic concentrations than the middle-aged. All of these results showed that it is di cult to reverse the negative impact of arsenic
pollution on human health. Arsenic pollution has a long-term continuous influence on the health of local residents.
