Arsenic levels in external environment in endemic arsenism area of Shanxi province

Objective To investigate the arsenic levels in drinking water and food of endemic arsenism patients in Shanxi province.Methods 189 cases were randomly selected in 17 countries of endemic arsenism in Shanxi province,the drinking water and food planted locally were collected.The content of arsenic in drinking water and food were quantitatively determined by HPLC-ICP-MS detected in Japan.Results There are 64.9% samples above the arsenic level(50μg/L) of national drinking water and the median value of arsenic in drinking water is 91.43μg/L in 134 water samples.There are 44.8% samples above the arsenic level of national food and the median value of arsenic in food is 0.65 mg/kg in 125 food samples.Conclusions The arsenic in drinking water and food were both high in endemic arsenism area of Shanxi province.The patients of endemic arsenism intake arsenic through not only drinking water but also food.