2009/03/09 by Yajuan Xia, Timothy J. Wade, Kegong Wu +7 · 1 citation
Environmental Science · Social Sciences · #Arsenic contamination and mitigation #Heavy Metal Exposure and Toxicity #Environmental Justice and Health Disparities
paper · pdf · doi:10.3390/ijerph6031010
openalex publication_date 2009/03/09 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
Residents of the Bayingnormen region of Inner Mongolia have been exposed to arsenic-contaminated well water for over 20 years, but relatively few studies have investigated health effects in this region. We surveyed one village to document exposure to arsenic and assess the prevalence of arsenic-associated skin lesions and self-reported morbidity. Five-percent (632) of the 12,334 residents surveyed had skin lesions characteristics of arsenic exposure. Skin lesions were strongly associated with well water arsenic and there was an elevated prevalence among residents with water arsenic exposures as low as 5 microg/L-10 microg/L. The presence of skin lesions was also associated with self-reported cardiovascular disease.