Arsenic Exposure and Oral Cavity Lesions in Bangladesh

• Published in: Journal of occupational and environmental medicine Vol. 55; no. 1; pp. 59 - 66
• Main Authors: Syed, Emdadul H., Melkonian, Stephanie, Poudel, Krishna C., Yasuoka, Junko, Otsuka, Keiko, Ahmed, Alauddin, Islam, Tariqul, Parvez, Faruque, Slavkovich, Vesna, Graziano, Joseph H., Ahsan, Habibul, Jimba, Masamine
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hagerstown, MD Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a business of Wolters Kluwer Health 01-01-2013; The American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine; Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; Lippincott Williams & Wilkins Ovid Technologies
• Subjects: Adult; Arsenic - adverse effects; Arsenic - urine; Arsenic content; Bangladesh - epidemiology; Biological and medical sciences; Chemical and industrial products toxicology. Toxic occupational diseases; Confidence Intervals; Cross-Sectional Studies; Databases, Factual; Drinking Water; Environmental Exposure - adverse effects; Female; Human exposure; Humans; Incidence; Life Style; Male; Medical sciences; Metals and various inorganic compounds; Middle Aged; Mouth; Mouth Diseases - chemically induced; Mouth Diseases - epidemiology; Mouth Diseases - pathology; Mouth Mucosa - pathology; Multivariate Analysis; Odds Ratio; Original Article; Prognosis; Regression Analysis; Risk Assessment; Severity of Illness Index; Socioeconomic Factors; Stomatitis - chemically induced; Stomatitis - epidemiology; Stomatitis - pathology; Tongue Diseases - chemically induced; Tongue Diseases - epidemiology; Tongue Diseases - pathology; Toxicology; Water Pollutants, Chemical - adverse effects; Asia; Bangladesh; Human; Oral cavity; Tongue; Arsenic; Toxicity; Exposure; Epidemiology; Public health
• ISSN: 1076-2752; 1536-5948
• DOI: 10.1097/JOM.0b013e31826bb686

OBJECTIVE:To evaluate the relationship between arsenic exposure and oral cavity lesions among an arsenic-exposed population in Bangladesh.
METHODS:We carried out an analysis utilizing the baseline data of the Health Effects of Arsenic Exposure Longitudinal Study, which is an ongoing population-based cohort study to investigate health outcomes associated with arsenic exposure via drinking water in Araihazar, Bangladesh. We used multinomial regression models to estimate the risk of oral cavity lesions.
RESULTS:Participants with high urinary arsenic levels (286.1 to 5000.0 μg/g) were more likely to develop arsenical lesions of the gums (multinomial odds ratio = 2.90; 95% confidence interval, 1.11 to 7.54), and tongue (multinomial odds ratio = 2.79; 95% confidence interval, 1.51 to 5.15), compared with those with urinary arsenic levels of 7.0 to 134.0 μg/g.
CONCLUSIONS:Higher level of arsenic exposure was positively associated with increased arsenical lesions of the gums and tongue.