Arsenic is Everywhere: Cause for Concern? - Hardcover

William R Cullen

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1782623140 ISBN 13: 9781782623144

Publisher: Royal Society of Chemistry, 2016

Synopsis

Exploring the presence of arsenic in our lives, from its occurrence in food to its use in medicine, this is a fascinating book for general readers.

About this title

About the Authors

William R Cullen is Professor Emeritus at the University of British Columbia, Canada. His research focuses on the biogeochemistry and sociochemistry of arsenic.

Kenneth J Reimer is Professor Emeritus at the Royal Military College of Canada, Canada. His research focusses on ecological and human health risk assessment and risk communication.

From the Back Cover

Arsenic is a naturally occurring element and, as such, it is present in the environment and in our food and drink. It can even be involved in supporting life processes. However, due to its toxicity, there is concern about its presence in our diet. This book examines the real risks and impacts of arsenic in our lives.

Looking at arsenic and its compounds, this book explores the presence of arsenic in food and water, the need to clarify its toxicity, and current scientific and public misconceptions about arsenic. It also looks at the use of arsenic in medicine, from cancer treatments to alternative therapies such as homeopathy.

Following on from Is Arsenic an Aphrodisiac?: The Sociochemistry of an Element, this book continues the authors work in addressing the issues surrounding arsenic. It is a fascinating read for general readers as it unveils the reality of our exposure to arsenic in our daily lives.

From the Inside Flap

Arsenic is a naturally occurring element and, as such, it is present in the environment and in our food and drink. It can even be involved in supporting life processes. However, due to its toxicity, there is concern about its presence in our diet. This book examines the real risks and impacts of arsenic in our lives.

Looking at arsenic and its compounds, this book explores the presence of arsenic in food and water, the need to clarify its toxicity, and current scientific and public misconceptions about arsenic. It also looks at the use of arsenic in medicine, from cancer treatments to alternative therapies such as homeopathy.

Following on from Is Arsenic an Aphrodisiac?: The Sociochemistry of an Element, this book continues the authors work in addressing the issues surrounding arsenic. It is a fascinating read for general readers as it unveils the reality of our exposure to arsenic in our daily lives.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Arsenic is Everywhere: Cause for Concern?

By William R. Cullen, Kenneth J. Reimer

The Royal Society of Chemistry

Copyright © 2017 William R. Cullen and Kenneth J. Reimer
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-78262-314-4

Contents

Chapter 1 An Introduction to Arsenic, 1, 
Chapter 2 Arsenic Is Everywhere, 8, 
Chapter 3 Some Non-Human Arsenic Eaters, 49, 
Chapter 4 The Toxicity of Arsenic, 85, 
Chapter 5 Medicinal Arsenic, 129, 
Chapter 6 Arsenic and Alternative Medicines, 161, 
Chapter 7 Arsenic in Food, 190, 
Chapter 8 Arsenic and the Evening Meal, 221, 
Subject Index, 266, 

CHAPTER 1

An Introduction to Arsenic

This chapter provides an introduction to the element arsenic and to its position in the consciousness of the general public as number one in the poison index. Its association with poison has even led to the satirical suggestion that it should be removed from the chemistry periodic table — this despite the fact that it is one of the natural elements that make up the Earth. Many people are uncomfortable with chemicals, and within this general chemophobia, arsenophobia has a particularly powerful position. The association has been used to great effect in plays such as Arsenic and Old Lace, but has also been used to add emotional wallop to sell everything from lingerie to paint to music. This chapter reinforces how arsenic is uniquely embedded in our social fabric, probably to a greater degree than any other element.

Some Background

This book is an updated and more focused follow-up to Is Arsenic an Aphrodisiac? The Sociochemistry of an Element, by co-author W. R. Cullen, published by the Royal Society of Chemistry in 2008. The 2008 book covered a wide range of topics, some of which will not be revisited here because we feel that enough has been said about, for example, arsenic's role in crime (a substantial role), chemical warfare (also substantial), sudden infant death syndrome (not involved), and the death of Napoleon (a myth). Some mention will be made of other topics previously covered when necessary, to place them in context and add new information, but otherwise the material and the approach in this volume are different with more of a focus on sociochemistry, which we define as what takes place at the interface between society and chemistry. We are convinced that arsenic has the broadest, deepest and most fascinating sociochemistry of all of the elements. As the interface between society and arsenic is demonstrated largely by the effects of arsenic on life, human and other, this work explores primarily how we are all exposed to arsenic in one form or another and examines whether this exposure is a cause for concern.

To begin, the word "arsenic" appeared in the English language in 1389. Arsenic is one of the 98 natural elements (Box 1.1) that make up our universe and ranks somewhere between 46th and 54th in the composition of the earth's crust, between 24th and 28th in seawater, and about 31st in the human body. However, it is firmly fixed at number one in the mental poison index of most of the world's inhabitants, even though quite a few other elements and their compounds are much more toxic (think, for example, of non-toxic carbon as diamond and carbon dioxide and toxic carbon as strychnine and sodium cyanide).

"Toxic arsenic" has become embedded in our social fabric, for good and for ill, as is exemplified in a very old (and corny) joke:

A woman walks into a drugstore and asks the pharmacist for some arsenic.

"Ma'am, what do you want to do with arsenic?" asks the pharmacist.

"Kill my husband," answers the woman.

"I can't sell you arsenic to kill a person."

The lady lays down a photograph of a man and a woman in a very compromising position. The man in the picture is her husband and the woman is the pharmacist's wife. He takes the photograph in his hand and nods.

"I didn't realize you had a prescription."

Arsenic has become so synonymous with poison that Pulitzer Prize-winning author Deborah Blum is sure of the answer when she asks in a blogpost, Is arsenic the worst chemical in the world? In a satirical piece, some parents of school children in Colorado, United States, suggested that arsenic should be removed from the ubiquitous charts known to chemistry students as the periodic table of the elements. Such negative reactions are part of a widespread aversion to, and even fear of, chemistry and chemicals, regardless of the actual danger that they pose. This fear even has a name: chemophobia.

Chemophobia is well acknowledged by society as a whole. According to science writer Valerie Brown, "individuals mentally assess risk in a similar way, but risk perception is shaped by several largely unconscious emotional processes shared by scientists and non-scientists alike. The human brain is hard-wired to react quickly and defensively to perceived threats of any kind. This includes physical threats, sights, sounds, smells, and even words or memories associated with fear or danger. For example, the word 'chemicals' has been shown to trigger an unconscious fear reaction in members of the general public, leading to chemophobia." Arsenophobia is this emotion focused on this particular element.

This general association of arsenic with poison began to emerge at the time of the industrial revolution of the 1700s, when arsenic trioxide for use as a rat poison became easily accessible, as described in Chapter 2 of Cullen's 2008 book. All details of the numerous criminal poisoning trials involving the use of arsenic were reported in the popular broadsheets, whose authors pandered to the basest interests of the general public.

When the World Health Organization (WHO) moved ultraviolet light tanning beds to its highest cancer risk category in 2010, the message was publicised by comparing the danger with that of arsenic: "Tanning beds as deadly as arsenic." That same year, political pundit John Feehery wrote that US President Obama had said about the stimulus package that it was "the best thing since sliced bread [but that the] Republicans say it was the worst thing since the invention of arsenic." And, still in the United States, Republican Karl Rove accused the Democrats of adding "arsenic to the nation's political wells."

Then there is the term "the arsenic hour," which first appeared in 1975 and which refers to the time of day when both children and parents have come home tired and hungry (though what the use of arsenic might be in the parents' minds during this hour is open to conjecture):

Between the nap and the twilight
When blood sugar is starting to lower,
Comes a pause in the day's occupations,
That is known as the Arsenic Hour.

But arsenophobia is not restricted to the general public — even scientists have the disease. The arsenic entry in the Periodic (Table of) Videos, produced by a well-known team based at the University of Nottingham, UK, provides an extreme example. The phrase "toxic" is used numerous times, incorrectly, in the video in relation to a vial of elemental arsenic.

Elemental arsenic is in fact not toxic to humans, but a few arsenic compounds are very toxic and have been used for criminal purposes from the time of the ancient Romans to the present day. This negative view of the element has been reinforced in the crime fiction of authors such as Dorothy Sayers and Agatha Christie. Arsenic also plays a major role in more serious fiction, such as in the classic American short story "A Rose for Emily" by Nobel Prize-winning author William Faulkner (1949) and in Gustave Flaubert's Madame Bovary. But the biggest contributor to the image continues to be the play Arsenic and Old Lace by Joseph Kesselring, a perennial favourite first performed on Broadway in New York in 1941 and followed by a very popular movie version released in 1944. The play was inspired by the case of multiple poisoner Amy Archer Gilligan, who in life was not at all like the sweet and kind Brewster sisters (for details, see Chapter 5 in Cullen's 2008 book).

The phrase "arsenic and old lace" has become a cliché and has spawned numerous books and articles, with titles such as "Arsenic and Old Lead" (environmental cleanup), "Arsenic and Old Mustard" (chemical weapons) and "Arsenic and Old Myths" (the history of chemistry). On the less serious literary side, we find Arsenic Lullaby, a blacker-than-black comic book series by Douglas Paszkiewicz, and Arsenic Soup for Lovers: When Chicken Soup Doesn't Work, by Georgia Z Post, which "contains very short stories for very busy people with emphasis on the darker side of human nature." And these are available to read in bed at the Arsenic and Old Lace Bed and Breakfast in Eureka Springs, Arkansas.

In academic circles, Arsenic Lobster is the name of a website used by Columbia College Chicago poetry students, and the Ladies Underground Tea & Arsenic Society at the University of Southern Maine is a group dedicated to the discussion of current politics, literature, body image issues (and more!). Amethyst Arsenic is an online publisher of poetry, art and music, and Arsenic Mag "lives at the intersection of sexy and artistic."

Speaking of "sexy" associations: The Belgium-based lingerie label Arsenic et Vieilles Dentelles (Arsenic and Old Lace) appeared in 2013, "bringing you to taste, in total freedom, the beauty of a forbidden poison."

The Lady Arsenic & Tickety Bob Boutique is the merchandise arm of the band Arsenic Addiction (more on them below), but if you don't find what you like there, you could try Arsenic Lace, A is for Arsenic or Arsenic Fashions for your alternative apparel and accessories, or West 49, a Canadian retailer that has the banner Amnesia/Arsenic. The Arsenic & Old Lace Occult Shop is dedicated to providing quality products and advice to the pagan and Wiccan communities, while Arsenic Number 17 by TOYKOMILK is the rather surprising name of an "unusual aromatic fragrance of rich and exciting dark components."

The "A word" has such an emotional wallop that it can be used to sell almost anything. It can be used to create brand recognition through an association with fear or anxiety about the product, and clever marketers have capitalized on this reflex. For example, Apple goes to great lengths to sell its products as "green" and environmentally friendly and tells customers that its glass is arsenic-free (while neglecting to mention that it uses arsenic in the electronic components).

The musical world, especially its darker side, seems to be fascinated by the idea of arsenic. Arsenic of Jabir is a band whose words are "laced with metaphors, ambiguity, cryptic historical references and sometimes dry, even black humour." The name makes reference to the Arabian alchemist Jabir ibn Hayyan, who was known as Geber, the first to prepare arsenic trioxide. The band Arsenic Addiction, described on its website as "dedicated to the dead as opposed to the living," has an album titled "An Undertaker's Lament," which contains tracks titled "Lady Death Narcissus," "Black Lullaby" and "Scream of the Banshee." Arsenic Addiction also throws a live show that is described as an interactive funeral mass featuring an after-service teatime and Victorian pornography.

Chad Urmstone of the band State Radio wrote the song "Arsenic and Clover," which is based on his experience of catching a parasite in Zimbabwe and taking what might have been arsenic in the form of a local remedy to kill the bug.

Arsenic is also the name for a pricey paint colour available from a high end English paint company, Farrow and Ball. We quote company director Sarah Cole: "The name of our vibrant green paint, Arsenic, makes reference to Napoleon in a playful way. The green verdigris colour was first used as the ground for our Napoleonic Bee Wallpaper; however, Napoleon was also thought (mistakenly) to have been poisoned by the arsenic used to make the pigment for the green wallpaper in his bathroom in St. Helena."

Elizabeth Miller, a marketing professor at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, co-wrote a 2006 study about strange colour and flavour names. They found that consumers preferred these ambiguous names in the world of hedonic products. "When they're thinking about what does this mean, or trying to solve the puzzle of why was this particular name used, you get a boost in interest in both cases." Thus the educated target market for the paint colour called Arsenic can give themselves a pat on the back for making the (even if incorrect) connection between Napoleon, arsenic and the colour green (while dipping deep into their pockets). But why would KHE Bikes & BMX Parts name bike parts the Arsenic Fork and the Arsenic Handlebar? Possibly an attractive association with danger?

Finally, to revert to childhood innocence, some of us grew up listening to side-splitting jokes that depended on punch lines containing the phrase "arse a nic." So we will have some sympathy for a well-known chemist who in the 1920s invested a lot of time trying to synthesize the arsenic equivalent of an organic molecule named indole, only to have his efforts frustrated by the nomenclature committee, which decided that the compound he had finally prepared should be named "arsindole" rather than "arsole." Some years later, the committee could not escape awarding the name "arsole" to an even more deserving compound, featured prominently in the advertising campaign of a major chemical supplier, Synthonix.

We hope that this brief introduction has whet your appetite to learn more about arsenic. It will surprise many that arsenic is all around us, as it is part of our natural environment and is not just present as a result of human activity (Chapter 2). In Chapter 3 we will see how the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) thought (erroneously) that arsenic could act as a substitute for phosphorus, thereby paving the way for some unusual extraterrestrial life. We will learn, however, that arsenic can be used in life processes and that many organisms, from bacteria to plants to people, can transform arsenic compounds into different ones. There is no question that arsenic can be poisonous, but the health risks depend on the amount we are exposed to (the dose) and the arsenic compound; one arsenic-containing compound that we frequently consume in food is completely non-toxic (Chapter 4). The use of arsenic in medicines and alternative remedies is explored in Chapters 5 and 6, respectively. Since arsenic is present everywhere, it is logical to expect to find it in our food and drink (Chapter 7), despite the "shock" that the media expresses when there are reports of arsenic in our apple juice, wine, chicken and rice. In Chapter 8, we issue a dinner invitation and provide a look at the arsenic we might be putting on our plates. It is important to realize that we are all exposed to arsenic and to understand under which circumstances exposure to arsenic may or may not pose a real health concern, rather than the perception of one.

CHAPTER 2

Arsenic Is Everywhere

When most people hear the word arsenic, they think of poison and assume that its presence is human-caused, so it may come as a surprise to learn that arsenic is found naturally in our rocks, soil, water and air. This chapter provides information about the sources of arsenic, natural and anthropogenic, in our world and the amount we might expect to find in different environments. It is true that exposure to a certain amount of arsenic can kill fairly quickly, but because it is colourless, odourless and tasteless, people can regularly consume sub-lethal amounts in drinking water without knowing it is present. This "chronic exposure" can lead to a range of health effects, from skin lesions to cancer. Much of what we know about the effects of chronic exposure has been learned since the 1980s, through studies of regions such as Bangladesh, where even today 20 million people are impacted by naturally occurring arsenic in drinking water. The chapter describes how some micro-organisms convert arsenic in soil into a gaseous form that is released to the atmosphere, a process that plays an important role in global arsenic circulation, and concludes with examples of arsenic releases into the environment caused by human decisions and mistakes.

2.1 Introduction

Contrary to public perception, arsenic is not found in the environment only as a result of human activity — it is everywhere in our environment and is naturally present in rocks, soil, water and air. In this chapter, we look at the distribution of arsenic in the world around us as a consequence of natural processes and as a result of human actions. For the non-chemists, some basic chemistry principles can be found in Box 2.1.

(Continues...)

Excerpted from Arsenic is Everywhere: Cause for Concern? by William R. Cullen, Kenneth J. Reimer. Copyright © 2017 William R. Cullen and Kenneth J. Reimer. Excerpted by permission of The Royal Society of Chemistry.
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Edition details

• Publisher: Royal Society of Chemistry
• Publication date: 2016
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1782623140
• ISBN 13: 9781782623144
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 312