The purpose of the proposed study is to investigate mortality in Region 11 of Chile from 1950 to 2000. This' region, currently with a population of close to a half million people, experienced a peak exposure to arsenic with a population-weighted average drinking water concentration of 580 micrograms/L, from 1955 to 1970. In contrast, water supplies for the rest of the country mostly contained less than 10 4g/L. Following the installation of arsenic treatment plants, concentrations have gradually been reduced, so that by 1990 the average was less than 50 @ig/l-, the current drinking water standard in much of the world. An investigation of mortality in Region 11 during 1989-1993 indicated that rates for bladder, skin, lung, and kidney cancer were increased compared to the rest of Chile. Bladder cancer mortality was markedly elevated [men, SMR = 6.0, 95 percent confidence interval (CI), 4.8-7.4; women, SMR = 8.2, 95 percent CI, 6.3-10.5] as was lung cancer mortality [men, SMR = 3.8, 95 percent CI, 3.5-4.1; women, SMR = 3.1, 95 percent CI, 2.7-3.7]. It was estimated that arsenic might account for 7 percent of all deaths among those aged 30 years and over. If so, the impact of arsenic on the population mortality in Region 11 of Chile would be greater than that reported anywhere to date from environmental exposure to a carcinogen in a major population. Moreover, the impact may have been even greater in previous years, particularly from arsenic-caused diseases with shorter latencies than cancer. The proposed study will therefore collect and analyze 0 available measurements of arsenic in water, and investigate all causes of mortality from 1950 to 2000, in Region 11. As well as cancer, increased mortality might be expected from non-cancer outcomes including cardiovascular, peripheral vascular and cerebrovascular diseases. The impact of arsenic exposure during childhood on pulmonary disease mortality in young adults, and on childhood cancer mortality, will also be assessed. This study will provide a unique opportunity to investigate arsenic-caused mortality, including latency patterns, in one of the world's most significant environmental toxic exposures.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
1R01ES010033-01A1
Application #
6205420
Study Section
Epidemiology and Disease Control Subcommittee 2 (EDC)
Program Officer
Collman, Gwen W
Project Start
2000-08-15
Project End
2003-07-31
Budget Start
2000-08-15
Budget End
2001-07-31
Support Year
1
Fiscal Year
2000
Total Cost
$316,597
Indirect Cost
Name
University of California Berkeley
Department
Public Health & Prev Medicine
Type
Schools of Public Health
DUNS #
094878337
City
Berkeley
State
CA
Country
United States
Zip Code
94704
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Smith, Allan H; Marshall, Guillermo; Yuan, Yan et al. (2011) Evidence from Chile that arsenic in drinking water may increase mortality from pulmonary tuberculosis. Am J Epidemiol 173:414-20
Yuan, Yan; Marshall, Guillermo; Ferreccio, Catterina et al. (2010) Kidney cancer mortality: fifty-year latency patterns related to arsenic exposure. Epidemiology 21:103-8
Liaw, Jane; Marshall, Guillermo; Yuan, Yan et al. (2008) Increased childhood liver cancer mortality and arsenic in drinking water in northern Chile. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 17:1982-7
Yuan, Yan; Marshall, Guillermo; Ferreccio, Catterina et al. (2007) Acute myocardial infarction mortality in comparison with lung and bladder cancer mortality in arsenic-exposed region II of Chile from 1950 to 2000. Am J Epidemiol 166:1381-91
Marshall, Guillermo; Ferreccio, Catterina; Yuan, Yan et al. (2007) Fifty-year study of lung and bladder cancer mortality in Chile related to arsenic in drinking water. J Natl Cancer Inst 99:920-8
Smith, Allan H; Marshall, Guillermo; Yuan, Yan et al. (2006) Increased mortality from lung cancer and bronchiectasis in young adults after exposure to arsenic in utero and in early childhood. Environ Health Perspect 114:1293-6