Guest guest Posted November 25, 2007 Report Share Posted November 25, 2007 I thought everyone would be interested in this subject. It demonstrates beyond a shadow of doubt that the unborn is at a high risk to toxic expsure. This includes whatever is in a sick building. Arsenic containg bait traps should no be used indoors. Jack D. Thrasher, Ph.d. Prenatal Arsenic Exposure May Cause Cancer Later CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts, November 23, 2007 (ENS) - Children of mothers whose water supplies were contaminated with arsenic during their pregnancies harbored gene expression changes that may lead to cancer and other diseases later in life, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have found. This is the first time evidence of such genome-wide changes resulting from prenatal exposure has ever been documented from any environmental contaminant, say the MIT scientists. Even when water supplies are cleaned up and the children never experience any direct exposure to the pollutant, they may still suffer lasting damage,the findings suggest. The evidence comes from studies of 32 mothers and their children in a province of Thailand that experienced heavy arsenic contamination from tin mining. Similar levels of arsenic are also found in many other regions, including the U.S. Southwest, the researchers say. Pregnant woman, United States. (Photo courtesy USDA) Exposure to higher than average levels of arsenic occur mostly in the workplace, near hazardous waste sites, or in areas with high natural levels, according to the U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. At high levels, the agency says, inorganic arsenic can cause death. Exposure to lower levels for a long time can cause a discoloration of the skin and the appearance of small corns or warts. The research was led by Mathuros Ruchirawat, director of the Laboratory of Environmental Toxicology of the Chulabhorn Research Institute in Thailand, working with Leona Samson, director of MIT's Center for Environmental Health Sciences and the American Cancer Society professor in the departments of Biological Engineering and Biology. The team analyzed blood that had been collected from umbilical cords at birth. The exposure of mothers to arsenic during their pregnancy was independently determined by analyzing toenail clippings, " the most reliable way of detecting past arsenic exposure, " said Ruchirawat and Samson. The team found a collection of about 450 genes whose expression had been turned on or turned off in babies who had been exposed to arsenic while in the womb. That is, these genes had either become significantly more active, as occurred in most cases, or less active, than in unexposed babies. " We were looking to see whether we could have figured out that these babies were exposed in utero " just by using the gene expression screening on the stored blood samples, Samson says. " The answer was a resounding yes. " This is the first time such a response to prenatal arsenic exposure has been found in humans. But it is not entirely unexpected, Samson explains, because " in mice, when mothers are transiently exposed to arsenic in the drinking water, their progeny, in their adult life, are much more cancer-prone. " Recognizing the damaging effects of the arsenic exposure, " the government has provided alternative water sources " to the affected villages, " although many people are still using the local water for cooking, says co-author Fry, a research scientist at the MIT environmental health sciences center. She intends to follow these toddlers as they grow older to show how long-lasting the effects of the prenatal arsenic exposure may be. Fry suggests that studies of possible ways of reversing or mitigating the damage, perhaps through dietary changes, nutritional supplements, or drug treatments might show how to counteract the dangerous changes in genetic expression. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 26, 2007 Report Share Posted November 26, 2007 I read recently that people who live in moldy OLD buildings that had wallpaper in them in the past need to be concerned about arsenic? Could you explain a little bit about that? Also, I read that zinc supplementation helps fight arsenic poisoning, as well as zinc with NAC. On Nov 25, 2007 7:41 PM, toxicologist1 <toxicologist1@...> wrote: > > > I thought everyone would be interested in this subject. It > demonstrates beyond a shadow of doubt that the unborn is at a high > risk to toxic expsure. This includes whatever is in a sick > building. Arsenic containg bait traps should no be used indoors. > Jack D. Thrasher, Ph.d. > > Prenatal Arsenic Exposure May Cause Cancer Later > CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts, November 23, 2007 (ENS) - Children of > mothers whose water supplies were contaminated with arsenic during > their pregnancies harbored gene expression changes that may lead to > cancer and other diseases later in life, researchers at the > Massachusetts Institute of Technology have found. > > This is the first time evidence of such genome-wide changes resulting > from prenatal exposure has ever been documented from any > environmental contaminant, say the MIT scientists. > > Even when water supplies are cleaned up and the children never > experience any direct exposure to the pollutant, they may still > suffer lasting damage,the findings suggest. > > The evidence comes from studies of 32 mothers and their children in a > province of Thailand that experienced heavy arsenic contamination > from tin mining. > > Similar levels of arsenic are also found in many other regions, > including the U.S. Southwest, the researchers say. Pregnant woman, > United States. (Photo courtesy USDA) Exposure to higher than average > levels of arsenic occur mostly in the workplace, near hazardous waste > sites, or in areas with high natural levels, according to the U.S. > Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. At high levels, the > agency says, inorganic arsenic can cause death. Exposure to > lower levels for a long time can cause a discoloration of the skin > and the appearance of small corns or warts. > > The research was led by Mathuros Ruchirawat, director of the > Laboratory of Environmental Toxicology of the Chulabhorn Research > Institute in Thailand, working with Leona Samson, director of MIT's > Center for Environmental Health Sciences and the American Cancer > Society professor in the departments of Biological Engineering and > Biology. > > The team analyzed blood that had been collected from umbilical cords > at birth. The exposure of mothers to arsenic during their pregnancy > was independently determined by analyzing toenail clippings, " the > most reliable way of detecting past arsenic exposure, " said > Ruchirawat and Samson. The team found a collection of about 450 genes > whose expression had been turned on or turned off in babies who had > been exposed to arsenic while in the womb. > > That is, these genes had either become significantly more active, as > occurred in most cases, or less active, than in unexposed babies. > > " We were looking to see whether we could have figured out that these > babies were exposed in utero " just by using the gene expression > screening on the stored blood samples, Samson says. " The answer was a > resounding yes. " > > This is the first time such a response to prenatal arsenic exposure > has been found in humans. But it is not entirely unexpected, Samson > explains, because " in mice, when mothers are transiently exposed to > arsenic in the drinking water, their progeny, in their adult life, > are much more cancer-prone. " > > Recognizing the damaging effects of the arsenic exposure, " the > government has provided alternative water sources " to the affected > villages, " although many people are still using the local water for > cooking, says co-author Fry, a research scientist at the MIT > environmental health sciences center. > > She intends to follow these toddlers as they grow older to show how > long-lasting the effects of the prenatal arsenic exposure may be. > > Fry suggests that studies of possible ways of reversing or mitigating > the damage, perhaps through dietary changes, nutritional supplements, > or drug treatments might show how to counteract the dangerous changes > in genetic expression. > ------ J Trace Elem Med Biol. 2006;20(3):197-204. Epub 2006 Apr 17.Click here to read Links Co-administration of zinc and n-acetylcysteine prevents arsenic-induced tissue oxidative stress in male rats. Modi M, Kaul RK, Kannan GM, Flora SJ. Division of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Defence Research and Development Establishment, Jhansi Road, Gwalior 474 002, India. Arsenic is a widespread environmental toxicant that may cause neuropathy, skin lesions, vascular lesions and cancer upon prolonged exposure. Improving nourishment like supplementation of micronutrients, antioxidants, vitamins and amino acids could be able to halve the risk in those who were previously the poor nourished. The present study was planned to investigate the preventive effects of zinc and n-acetylcysteine (NAC) supplementation either alone or in combination with arsenic on selected biochemical variables indicative of oxidative stress and liver injury in male rats. For 3 weeks 25 male wistar rats were exposed to arsenic as sodium arsenite (2 mg/kg, orally through gastric intubation) either alone or in combination with NAC (10 mg/kg, intraperitoneally), zinc (5 mg/kg, orally) or zinc plus NAC. Animals were sacrificed 24h after the last dosing for various biochemical parameters. Concomitant administration of zinc with arsenic showed remarkable protection against blood delta-aminolevulinic acid dehydratase (ALAD) activity as well as providing protection to hepatic biochemical variables indicative of oxidative stress (like thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) level, catalase) and tissue injury. NAC supplementation on the other hand, was moderately effective in protecting animals from the toxic effects of arsenic. Interestingly, concomitant administration of zinc and NAC was most effective compared to zinc or NAC in eliciting above-mentioned protective effects. The above results suggest significant protective value of combined zinc and NAC administration in acute arsenic exposure. PMID: 16959597 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 26, 2007 Report Share Posted November 26, 2007 If I am not mistaken the old paste used in wall paper contained arsenic. Also, the paints probably contained heavy metals such as mercury, chromium, lead, etc. Mercury was also as a preservative and mold fighter in water based paints for a number of years. When the substrate is broken down my the molds and bacteria, then the heavy metals are released. Jack D. Thrasher, Ph.D. Toxicologist/Immunotoxicologist/Fetaltoxicologist www.drthrasher.org toxicologist1@... Off: 775-636-8513 Cell - 505-937-1150 Fax - 775-636-7403 L. Crawley, M.ED., LADC Trauma Specialist sandracrawley@... 530-644-6035 - Off 617-959-9231 - Cell Office: 775-636-8513 (505) 937-1150 - Cell This message and any attachments forwarded with it is to be considered privileged and confidential. The forwarding or redistribution of this message (and any attachments) without my prior written consent is strictly prohibited and may violate privacy laws. Once the intended purpose of this message has been served, please destroy the original message contents. If you have received this message in error, please reply immediately to advise the sender of the miscommunication and then delete the message and any copies you have printed. Thank you in advance for your compliance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 26, 2007 Report Share Posted November 26, 2007 Would events such as fires or extensive flooding have any effect on the rate of release? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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