Everyone knows arsenic is bad for you. Today we discuss where arsenic comes from, its history as a medicine, how much is bad for you, and how it got its awful reputation.

Welcome back, everyone. 

I hope you are all weathering the Coronavirus pandemic well.  I'm sure the world will survive this pandemic

like it has the others, but individually I hope you all stay safe and healthy.

Today’s topic is

Arsenic: who eats old lace anyway?

Arsenic as a medicine

As the world searches for a cure to the Coronavirus, could I

make a suggestion?  Let’s not try

arsenic.  Through the centuries, it seems

that arsenic has been advertised as a cure for many major illnesses.  Since Hippocrates first recommended arsenic

as a cure for ulcers and abscesses, it seems that arsenic was recommended for

about every conceivable illness.  It has

been used to “cure” skin conditions, stomatitis, gingivitis in infants, asthma,

rheumatism, hemorrhoids, cough, a fever reducer, and an all-around great health

tonic. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1365-2141.2009.07623.x

From 1910 till the introduction of penicillin, an arsenic

derivative known as Salvarsan was the primary cure for syphilis, and

indications are that it actually did a pretty good job of killing the bacteria

without killing the patient, something that not all syphilis cures could claim.

https://www.sciencehistory.org/distillations/magazine/early-solution

Today, arsenic trioxide is used to treat lymphoma and

leukemia. https://pmj.bmj.com/content/79/933/391

However, arsenic is most famous as a cure for rich relatives

who were too stubborn to exit this world and leave behind a well-earned birthright.  A little sprinkle of some inheritance powder

and suddenly the money started to flow again.

Arsenic is a metalloid element with an atomic number of 33.  While it can be naturally found as a pure element, it is often found bonded with sulfur or oxygen. 

Mankind has known about arsenic since before the Egyptians

used it to embalm their dead to preserve the bodies until heat and moisture

could prevent natural decay. 

Arsenic in groundwater

The most common natural way to encounter arsenic is through

contaminated groundwater.  While

occasionally human activity is responsible for the presence of arsenic in

water, generally most contaminated wells are a result of the leaching of

naturally occurring arsenic.  As a child,

I remember having our well tested several times to determine arsenic

levels.  The areas most affected by

natural arsenic in the US are the southwest, northwest, northeast, and

Alaska.  Arsenic in groundwater can be a

hazard because dangerous levels of arsenic don’t affect the taste of drinking

water.  Generally, the only way to detect

these levels is through laboratory testing. 

The EPA limit for arsenic in groundwater is 10ppb.  They also estimate that 2% of water supplies

exceed 20ppb.  2ppb is a normal level,

but levels of up to 1000 ppb have been found in drinking water.  https://www.atsdr.cdc.