One Century of the Discovery of Arsenicosis in Latin America

Arsenic has been an issue of concern since decades because of the serious incidence on human health coming from ingestion of water with small amounts of arsenic for prolonged periods.
The presence of Arsenic in water, intended for drinking, has caused the spread of arsenicosis, a set of signs and symptoms manifested mainly by dermatological disorders, such as melanodermia, leucodermia and/or palmoplantar keratoderma, which may evolve into more serious pathologies, such as different types of cancer. The affected populations usually live in countries with low-income levels, and the disease largely affects dispersed rural and periurban populations. Around 100 million people are at risk in Asia and it is estimated that in Latin America the population at risk exceeds 14 million people, with high incidence in Argentina (about 4 million people), Chile, El Salvador, Mexico, Nicaragua and Peru. In the rest of the world, the most affected countries are India, China and Bangladesh, although the presence of arsenic in groundwater has been also found in some European countries and in the United States.