Arsenic is a naturally occurring element widely distributed in the earth’s crust. In the environment, arsenic is combined with oxygen, chlorine, and sulfur to form inorganic arsenic compounds. Arsenic in animals and plants combines with carbon and hydrogen to form organic arsenic compounds.
Breathing high levels of inorganic arsenic can give you a sore throat or irritated lungs.
Ingesting very high levels of arsenic can result in death. Exposure to lower levels can cause nausea and vomiting, decreased production of red and white blood cells, abnormal heart rhythm, damage to blood vessels, and a sensation of “pins and needles” in hands and feet.
Ingesting or breathing low levels of inorganic arsenic for a long time can cause a darkening of the skin and the appearance of small “corns” or “warts” on the palms, soles, and torso.
In this interview, Shianna Hines, the Senior Field Application Scientist for cannabis and hemp-related items at PerkinElmer, talks to AZoLifeSciences about testing cannabis for impurities and contaminants.
Soil pollution with extremely toxic arsenic is a global crisis posing significant risks to human health and the environment.
The interiors of nonflowering trees such as pine and ginkgo contain sapwood lined with straw-like conduits known as xylem, which draw water up through a tree's trunk and branches. Xylem conduits are interconnected via thin membranes that act as natural sieves, filtering out bubbles from water and sap.
The agricultural cultivation of the staple food of rice harbors the risk of possible contamination with arsenic that can reach the grains following uptake by the roots.
Arsenic exists ubiquitously in an organic or inorganic state in the environment. General populations are commonly exposed to arsenic by digestion.
Prolonged exposure to environmentally relevant concentrations of the weedkiller Roundup causes significant harm to keystone species according to new research at the University of Birmingham.
For the first time, researchers from SMART have engineered a living plant-based sensor for the detection of arsenic in the belowground environment
A team of soil scientists from RUDN University confirmed that traditional approaches to urban soil pollution monitoring ignore actual risks for urban residents because they don't take into consideration the barrier function of the soil.
Much of life on planet Earth today relies on oxygen to exist, but before oxygen was present on our blue planet, lifeforms likely used arsenic instead.
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Rice is the most widely consumed staple food source for a large part of the world's population. It has now been confirmed that rice can contribute to prolonged low-level arsenic exposure leading to thousands of avoidable premature deaths per year.
Finding out if the food and water we consume are safe from toxic and carcinogenic metals can now be much faster and simpler.
The U.S. Department of Energy recently announced the funding of two projects with Lehigh University's Energy Research Center.
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Scientists at Laboratory of Organic Electronics, Linköping University, have developed an organic electrochemical transistor that they can use to measure and study in fine detail a phenomenon known as extracellular electron transfer in which bacteria release electrons.
Scientists have called for labeling to warn the public about levels of arsenic in rice after research found rice varieties studied exceeded maximum limits.
Mushrooms are a protein- and mineral-rich food source, but they can also accumulate high levels of toxic metals and metalloids.