Please cite this article in press as: D. Chakraborti, et al., Environmental arsenic contamination and its health effects in a historic gold mining area of the Mangalur greenstone belt of Northeastern Karnataka, India, J. Hazard. Mater. (2012), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2012.10.002 ARTICLE IN PRESS G Model HAZMAT-14624; No. of Pages 8 Journal of Hazardous Materials xxx (2012) xxx–xxx Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Journal of Hazardous Materials jou rn al h om epage: www.elsevier.com/loc ate/jhazmat Environmental arsenic contamination and its health effects in a historic gold mining area of the Mangalur greenstone belt of Northeastern Karnataka, India Dipankar Chakraborti a,∗ , Mohammad Mahmudur Rahman a,b , Matthew Murrill a , Reshmi Das a , Siddayya c , S.G. Patil d , Atanu Sarkar e , Dadapeer H.J. f , Saeed Yendigeri f , Rishad Ahmed f , Kusal K. Das f a School of Environmental Studies (SOES), Jadavpur University, Kolkata 700032, India b Centre for Environmental Risk Assessment and Remediation (CERAR), University of South Australia, Mawson Lakes Campus, Mawson Lakes, Adelaide, South Australia, SA 5095, Australia c College of Agriculture, Bheemarayanagudi 585287, Yadgir, Karnataka, India d University of Agricultural Sciences, Raichur 584102, Karnataka, India e Division of Community Health and Humanities, Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University, St John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador A1B 3V6, Canada f Al Ameen Medical College & Hospital, Bijapur 586108, Karnataka, India h i g h l i g h t s ◮ First report of chronic human arsenic toxicity in any historic gold mining area. ◮ Highly elevated arsenic in topsoil as well as groundwater used for drinking. ◮ Prevalence of arsenical skin lesions comparable to other severe areas in South Asia. ◮ Integration of clinical, analytical chemical, and environmental research. a r t i c l e i n f o Article history: Received 26 November 2011 Received in revised form 28 September 2012 Accepted 2 October 2012 Available online xxx Keywords: Arsenic Groundwater Greenstone Gold mine Karnataka Arsenical skin lesions a b s t r a c t This report summarizes recent findings of environmental arsenic (As) contamination and the consequent health effects in a community located near historic gold mining activities in the Mangalur greenstone belt of Karnataka, India. Arsenic contents in water, hair, nail, soil and food were measured by FI-HG-AAS. Elemental analyses of soils were determined by ICP-MS (inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry). Of 59 tube-well water samples, 79% had As above 10 g L -1 (maximum 303 g L -1 ). Of 12 topsoil samples, six were found to contain As greater than 2000 mg kg -1 possibly indicating the impact of mine tailings on the area. All hair and nail samples collected from 171 residents contained elevated As. Arsenical skin lesions were observed among 58.6% of a total 181 screened individuals. Histopathological analysis of puncture biopsies of suspected arsenical dermatological symptoms confirmed the diagnosis in three out of four patients. Based on the time-course of As-like symptoms reported by the community as well as the presence of overt arsenicosis, it is hypothesized that the primary route of exposure in the study area was via contaminated groundwater; however, the identified high As content in residential soil could also be a significant source of As exposure via ingestion. Additional studies are required to determine the extent as well as the relative contribution of geologic and anthropogenic factors in environmental As contamination in the region. This study report is to our knowledge one of the first to describe overt arsenicosis in this region of Karnataka, India as well as more broadly an area with underlying greenstone geology and historic mining activity. © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Chronic arsenic (As) exposure through ingestion can cause severe adverse effects on human health, especially via the ∗ Corresponding author at: Jadavpur University, School of Environmental Studies (SOES), Chemical Engineering Building, Kolkata, West Bengal 700032, India. Tel.: +91 33 2414 6233; fax: +91 33 2414 6266. E-mail address: dcsoesju@gmail.com (D. Chakraborti). consumption of contaminated groundwater [1–5]. Epidemiologi- cal and experimental evidence is furthermore mounting that in utero or early life exposure to As may affect fetal development or increase rates of several malignant and non-malignant dis- eases [6,7]. Arsenic with a naturally low average crustal abundance (1.7 mg kg -1 ) is substantially concentrated in certain sediments adsorbed to hydrous iron oxides or in the form of sulfide-bearing minerals [8]. The natural dispersion of As in the environment is governed by a combination of region and site-specific biogeochem- ical and hydrological factors [9,10]. The mining of gold and base 0304-3894/$ – see front matter © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2012.10.002