Arsenic and Cardiovascular Disease: New Evidence From the United States
Authors: Yu Chen, Margaret R. Karagas
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (2013)

Editorials19 November 2013Arsenic and Cardiovascular Disease: New Evidence From the United StatesYu Chen, PhD and Margaret R. Karagas, PhDYu Chen, PhDFrom New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York; and Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, New Hampshire. and Margaret R. Karagas, PhDFrom New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York; and Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, New Hampshire.Author, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-159-10-201311190-00720 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail Mounting evidence suggests that exposure to chemicals and other environmental substances, such as ambient urban air particles, cadmium, lead, and inorganic arsenic, could have a profound effect on cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. Inorganic arsenic, a known carcinogen, occurs naturally in groundwater, exposing millions of people in the United States and worldwide. Epidemiologic studies in villages of southwestern Taiwan with high levels of arsenic in groundwater (median, 780 µg/L) provided early evidence of a dose–response relationship of water arsenic concentrations at less than 300 µg/L, 300 to 590 µg/L, and greater than 590 µg/L with CVD mortality (1). Arsenic exposure has ...References1. Wu MM, Kuo TL, Hwang YH, Chen CJ. Dose-response relation between arsenic concentration in well water and mortality from cancers and vascular diseases. Am J Epidemiol. 1989;130:1123-32. [PMID: 2589305] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar2. Yuan Y, Marshall G, Ferreccio C, Steinmaus C, Selvin S, Liaw J, et al. Acute myocardial infarction mortality in comparison with lung and bladder cancer mortality in arsenic-exposed region II of Chile from 1950 to 2000. Am J Epidemiol. 2007;166:1381-91. [PMID: 17875584] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar3. Chen Y, Graziano JH, Parvez F, Liu M, Slavkovich V, Kalra T, et al. Arsenic exposure from drinking water and mortality from cardiovascular disease in Bangladesh: prospective cohort study. BMJ. 2011;342:d2431. [PMID: 46496419] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar4. Sohel N, Persson LA, Rahman M, Streatfield PK, Yunus M, Ekström EC, et al. Arsenic in drinking water and adult mortality: a population-based cohort study in rural Bangladesh. Epidemiology. 2009;20:824-30. [PMID: 19797964] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar5. Moon KA, Guallar E, Umans JG, Devereux RB, Best LG, Francesconi KA, et al. Association between exposure to low to moderate arsenic levels and incident cardiovascular disease. A prospective cohort study. Ann Intern Med. 2013;159:649-59. AbstractGoogle Scholar6. Gilbert-Diamond D, Cottingham KL, Gruber JF, Punshon T, Sayarath V, Gandolfi AJ, et al. Rice consumption contributes to arsenic exposure in US women. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2011;108:20656-60. [PMID: 22143778] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar7. Pierce BL, Kibriya MG, Tong L, Jasmine F, Argos M, Roy S, et al. Genome-wide association study identifies chromosome 10q24.32 variants associated with arsenic metabolism and toxicity phenotypes in Bangladesh. PLoS Genet. 2012;8:1002522. [PMID: 22383894] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar8. Chen Y, Wu F, Liu M, Parvez F, Slavkovich V, Eunus M, et al. A prospective study of arsenic exposure, arsenic methylation capacity, and risk of cardiovascular disease in Bangladesh. Environ Health Perspect. 2013;121:832-8. [PMID: 23665672] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar9. Farzan SF, Karagas MR, Chen Y. In utero and early life arsenic exposure in relation to long-term health and disease. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol. 2013;:. [PMID: 23859881] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar10. Davis MA, Mackenzie TA, Cottingham KL, Gilbert-Diamond D, Punshon T, Karagas MR. Rice consumption and urinary arsenic concentrations in U.S. children. Environ Health Perspect. 2012;120:1418-24. [PMID: 23008276] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAffiliations: From New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York; and Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, New Hampshire.Disclosures: None disclosed. Forms can be viewed at www.acponline.org/authors/icmje/ConflictOfInterestForms.do?msNum=M13-2154.Corresponding Author: Yu Chen, PhD, New York University School of Medicine, 650 First Avenue, Room 510, New York, NY 10016; e-mail, yu.[email protected]org.This article was published online first at www.annals.org on 24 September 2013.Current Author Addresses: Dr. Chen: New York University School of Medicine, 650 First Avenue, Room 510, New York, NY 10016.Dr. Karagas: Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, One Medical Center Drive, Rubin Building 7927, Lebanon, NH 03756. PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsSee AlsoAssociation Between Exposure to Low to Moderate Arsenic Levels and Incident Cardiovascular Disease Katherine A. Moon , Eliseo Guallar , Jason G. Umans , Richard B. Devereux , Lyle G. Best , Kevin A. Francesconi , Walter Goessler , Jonathan Pollak , Ellen K. Silbergeld , Barbara V. Howard , and Ana Navas-Acien Metrics 19 November 2013Volume 159, Issue 10Page: 713-714KeywordsArsenicAttentionCardiovascular diseasesCreatinineHeartLongitudinal studiesMedical risk factorsPopulation statisticsStroke ePublished: 19 November 2013 Issue Published: 19 November 2013 CopyrightCopyright © 2013 by American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.PDF DownloadLoading ...