Arsenic Poisoning & Skin Effects

Arsenic is a heavy metal found naturally in the Earth's crust. Most people are exposed to arsenic though food, soil, water, and air. There are two types of arsenic: inorganic and organic (arsines). Inorganic arsenic is combined with other elements, such as chlorine, oxygen and sulfur, is much more toxic than organic arsenic and is considered a human carcinogen. When arsenic is combined with elements such as hydrogen and carbon, it's known as organic arsenic.

Organic Arsenic

• Organic arsenic is a byproduct of metallurgy. Arsenic is usually obtained by smelting copper, lead, zinc and other ores. The exhaust from the metal smelter will release the gas into the environment. It's also found in the extremely toxic arsine gas, usually resulting from an industrial accident.

  Minimal amounts of organic arsenic can also be found in some ayurvedic, traditional Chinese and homeopathic remedies, and in veterinary medicine, such as antiparasitics. Large amounts can be found in nature, such as erupting volcanoes and hot springs releasing toxic gases.

Inorganic Arsenic

• Vegetables and fruits are often sprayed with arsenicals in the form of herbicides and insecticides. These can also contaminate well water and other freshwater sources when it rains or when agricultural farms are irrigated. It can also be found in contaminated fish and seafood. Arsenic can also exist in livestock and poultry feed as an additive to promote growth.

  Inorganic arsenic is also used in paints, ceramic enamels, wood preservatives, cigarettes, the making of illegal moonshine and as gallium arsenide in the microelectronics industry. Burning fossil fuels and coal power plants can also release arsenic into the environment.

How Arsenic Poisoning Occurs

• Arsenic poisoning can occur by ingesting it through the mouth, through skin contact or through inhalation. Poisoning through the mouth usually occurs when people eat contaminated fish and seafood, especially shellfish. By ingesting small amounts of contaminated foods, the arsenic amount is usually minor and will be excreted in the urine. Larger amounts of ingested contaminated foods over a longer period of time might cause arsenic to accumulate in the body and be more difficult to excrete. A person also might purposely ingest arsenic, causing acute arsenic poisoning.

  Arsenic contact through the skin can occur though exposure to compounds containing arsenic. These can irritate the eyes, skin and mucous membranes.

  Inhalation of arsenic can occur by working in or living near industrial compounds releasing arsenic as waste material, through industrial accidents or cigarette smoke.

Skin Effects

• Your skin can be affected in several ways. Chronic exposure can increase the risk or cause skin cancers. It might cause skin rashes and skin lesions that usually appear about 10 years after exposure to arsenic, such as keratoses (pre-cancerous spots) on soles and palms. Also, it might cause hyperpigmentation, or darkening of the skin, mainly on the arms and upper chest; these usually appear as dark areas or "raindrop" pigmentation (scattered dark spots). Hypopigmentation, or white spots, also might occur. A scaly form of dermatitis, also known as exfoliative dermatitis or erythroderma, with skin itching and redness, and possible hair loss (alopecia) is possible. Your skin also might smell like garlic.