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标题：The history of arsenical pesticides and health risks related to the use of Agent Blue
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作者：Vladimir Bencko ; Florence Yan Li Foong
期刊名称：Annals of Agricultural and Environmental Medicine
印刷版ISSN：1232-1966
电子版ISSN：1898-2263
出版年度：2017
卷号：24
期号：2
页码：312-316
DOI：10.26444/aaem/74715
出版社：Institute of Agricultural Medicine in Lublin
摘要：Arsenicals in agriculture. Beginning in the 1970s, the use of arsenic compounds for such purposes as wood preservatives,began to grow. By 1980, in the USA, 70% of arsenic had been consumed for the production of wood preservatives. Thispractice was later stopped, due to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ban of the arsenic-and chromium-basedwood preservative chromated copper arsenate. In the past, arsenical herbicides containing cacodylic acid as an activeingredient have been used extensively in the USA, from golf courses to cotton fields, and drying-out the plants beforeharvesting. The original commercial form of Agent Blue was among 10 toxic insecticides, fungicides and herbicides partiallyderegulated by the US EPA in February 2004, and specific limits on toxic residues in meat, milk, poultry and eggs, wereremoved. Today, however, they are no longer used as weed-killers, with one exception – monosodium methanearsonate(MSMA), a broadleaf weed herbicide for use on cotton. Severe poisonings from cacodylic acid caused headache, dizziness,vomiting, profuse and watery diarrhea, followed by dehydration, gradual fall in blood pressure, stupor, convulsions, generalparalysis and possible risk of death within 3–14 days.The relatively frequent use of arsenic and its compounds in both industry and agriculture points to a wide spectrum ofopportunities for human exposure. This exposure can be via inhalation of airborne arsenic, contaminated drinking water,beverages, or from food and drugs. Today, acute organic arsenical poisonings are mostly accidental. Considerable concernhas developed surrounding its delayed effects, for its genotoxic and carcinogenic potential, which has been demonstratedin epidemiological studies and subsequent animal experiments.Conclusions. There is substantial epidemiological evidence for an excessive risk, mostly for skin and lung cancer, amonghumans exposed to organic arsenicals in occupational and environmental settings. Furthermore, the genotoxic andcarcinogenic effects have only been observed at relatively high exposure rates. Current epidemiological and experimentalstudies are attempting to elucidate the mechanism of this action, pointing to the question whether arsenic is actually atrue genotoxic, or rather an epigenetic carcinogen. Due to the complexity of its effects, both options remain plausible. Itsinteractions with other toxic substances still represent another important field of interest.
关键词：arsenicals in agriculture; organic arsenicals use; farmers’ health; arsenical pesticides; carcinogenicity; Agent Blue toxicity