Genetic differences may make some people more susceptible to the toxic effects of arsenic than others, a doctoral student at UC Berkeley's School of Public Health has found. Ingesting arsenic has been shown to cause cancer and skin lesions.
Working with a international team led by COEH faculty member
Allan Smith, professor of epidemiology at UC Berkeley, doctoral candidate Joyce Chung has evaluated the pattern of arsenic concentration in the urine of 11 Chilean families whose only source of water contains 70 times more arsenic than is permitted in the United States.
Comparing concentrations of metabolized arsenic among family members, Chung found that siblings had more similar patterns with each other than with their parents, and had more similarities within their families than with people outside the family. Her results, published in the July issue of Environmental Health Perspectives, demonstrate that there is a genetic basis for arsenic metabolism that may account for differences in people's susceptibility to arsenic toxicity.
Describing the clinical impact of Chung's findings, Smith told Environmental Health Perspectives, "If one person is identified with an arsenic-caused disease, other family members could be screened. In the long term, it might be possible to identify people who would be particularly susceptible and then minimize any exposure."
