Drinking arsenic contaminated water can change the heart structure of young people and increase their risk of future heart disease, according to a study published in the journal Circulation: cardiovascular imaging.        

    In the United States, there are many Indian tribal communities and rural areas where water sources are contaminated with arsenic. In this study, researchers from the Melman School of public health at Columbia University analyzed urine samples of 1337 Indians in Oklahoma, Indiana, and South and North Dakota who were seriously arsenic contaminated to test their arsenic exposure after drinking arsenic contaminated water, and evaluated the size, shape and function of their hearts by echocardiography 。 The average age of the volunteers was 30.7 years, of which 61% were women. At the start of the five-year study, none of them had diabetes or heart disease.     

       The researchers found that these volunteers were more exposed to arsenic than the general population in the United States. When their urine arsenic levels were twice as high as normal, their risk of left ventricular hypertrophy increased by 47%, and that of hypertension by 58%. The researchers pointed out that although left ventricular hypertrophy is not a disease, it is often a precursor of heart disease; and the increased association between arsenic exposure and changes in heart structure in hypertensive people suggests that people with pre clinical heart disease may be more vulnerable to the effects of arsenic on cardiac toxicity.      

      Arsenic is one of the most common and harmful chemical pollutants. The mining and smelting of arsenic containing metals, as well as the production activities using arsenic or arsenic compounds as raw materials, can produce arsenic containing wastes (waste water, waste gas and waste residue), causing pollution to the environment. According to the World Health Organization, at least 50 million people around the world are threatened by arsenic poisoning. The researchers said they don't know whether the change of heart structure will be reversible after arsenic exposure is reduced. Since cardiovascular disease is still the main cause of premature death of adults around the world, their new research is more alarming, and the harm of arsenic and other metal pollutants can't be ignored.     

       Source: Science and Technology Daily