Abstract

PUNTORIERO, María Laura; VOLPEDO, Alejandra Vanina  and  FERNANDEZ CIRELLI, Alicia. Risk for rural population in areas with high arsenic water content. Acta toxicol. argent. [online]. 2014, vol.22, n.1, pp.15-22. ISSN 1851-3743.

Arsenic (As) is a natural toxic present in groundwater and surface water. This study estimated the risk of ingestion of high As concentrations present in groundwater for a rural population in Buenos Aires Province. The presence of As in soft tissues of silverside (Odontesthes bonariensis) was also considered as an additional source of As exposure, which is the native species of major commercial importance. Arsenic concentration was determined by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES). In water samples As concentrations were found in the range of < 10-170 µg/l, in fish muscle the concentration range was between 0,29 to 8,41 µg/g, and in liver between 0,24 to 8,98 µg/g, of dry weight. The endemic regional chronic hydroarsenicism Argentino (ERCHA), a disease caused by consumption of varying As concentrations during a long time, generates different skin pathologies. The risk estimated for groundwater intake in this rural population at all sites studied exceeded the accepted value of maximum individual risk (10^-5), according to United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA). As concentration in fish tissues, could be shown transference of this element to different organs, being harmful for human consumption.

Keywords : Risk; Rural population; Arsenic; uenos Aires Province.