Study suggests low-level arsenic exposure may be linked with Type 2 diabetes

CHICAGO - A new analysis of government data is the first to link low-level arsenic exposure, possibly from drinking water, with Type 2 diabetes, researchers say. The study's limitations make more research necessary. And public water systems were on their way to meeting tougher U.S. arsenic standards as the data were collected.

Still, the analysis of 788 adults' medical tests found a nearly fourfold increase in the risk of diabetes in people with low arsenic concentrations in their urine compared to people with even lower levels.

Previous research outside the United States has linked high levels of arsenic in drinking water with diabetes. It's the link at low levels that's new. The findings appear in Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical Association.

"The good news is, this is preventable," said lead author Dr. Ana Navas-Acien of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore.

New safe drinking water standards may be needed if the findings are duplicated in future studies, Navas-Acien said. She said they've begun a new study of 4,000 people.

http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/health/27143294.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aU7EaDiaMDCiUT

Wasn't one of Bush's first moves in office to block tightening of arsenic levels in drinking water? I seem to remember that...

I'd be curious to know where these people live, where their water comes from and if any industry is nearby.

For decades, pressure-treated lumber leaked massive quantities of arsenic into our environment. New types of pressure-treated lumber have less arsenic, but I don't know if its been eliminated entirely.

When my children were in elementary school I did a lot of research and begged the school not to put up playground equipment made of pressure-treated lumber, to no avail. Nobody would listen. Eventually the Clinton administration passed new guidelines, but w reversed them immediately upon taking office in January 2001.

When children play on pressure-treated playsets, arsenic transfers from the lumber onto their hands and into their mouths. The dust from decaying lumber poisons the ground beneath the playgrounds. Everyone's decks and fences are built of pressure-treated lumber, and every time anyone touches them, they transfer arsenic and copper and other toxic chemicals onto their hands. Anyone sawing pressure-treated lumber inhales arsenic, copper oxide, and all the other poisons in the wood.

All piers and decks built on lakes and the ocean are full of arsenic and other poisons, and as the wood decays the elements poison the water, which is then consumed by swimmers.

I've seen overwhelming evidence that links T2 diabetes with a high glycemic diet. Typically, people with high glycemic eating habits are poorer people who rely heavily on rice, pasta, beans and bread, and have limited access to fresh produce. Such people, I would think, would be more likely to live in older buildings with older buildings with higher concentrations of toxic materials, or in neighborhoods built on soil tainted by industrial waste.

I'm inclined to say that the link between T2 diabetes and arsenic is associative, not causal.