pencemaran arsenik

7/24/2019 Pencemaran Arsenik

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Pencemaran Arsenik

Pencemaran Arsenik

Kajian terkini di USA menunjukkan bahawa terdapat paras arsenik yangtinggi dalam beras dan jus epal serta jus anggur. Bagaimana dengankeadaan di Malaysia? adakah makanan yang kita makan selamatdaripada keracunan arsenik? Arsenik adalah bahan semulajadi dalamtanah yang pernah disembur dengan racun makhluk perosak danditabur baja kimia untuk mendapatkan hasil yang lumayan. Arsenik iniakan tersimpan lama dan kekal dalam tanah seperti juga merkuri danlogam berat yang lain. !isebabkan arsenik ini mudah larut air maka iamudah meresap dari tanah ke dalam tumbuhan yang kita makan. "adi

sisa#sisa arsenik ini terdapat pada semua bahagian tumbuhanterutamanya di daun. Apabila tumbuhan ini dimakan maka arsenik iniakan masuk ke dalam tubuh manusia.

!isebabkan padi ditanam di kawasan berair ia lebih mudah menyeraparsenik berbanding dengan tumbuhan daratan. Kajian jugamenunjukkan arsenik dalam padi lebih banyak terkumpul di bahagiankulit padi$sekam yang dibuang apabila padi diproses untukmendapatkan beras putih. %ni menunjukkan beras perang lebih banyakmengandungi arsenik berbanding beras putih. Selain tumbuhan

makanan laut juga banyak mengandugi arsenik yang berbahaya. Awasdengan suplemen kalsium diperbuat daripada makanan laut yangmengandungi paras arsenik yang tinggi. &erdedah kepada paras arsenikyang tinggi dalam badan boleh menyebabkan kematian. &erdedahkepada paras arsenik yang sederhana menyebabkan penyakitkardio'askular kesan kepada paru#paru dan masalah perna(asan yanglain masalah dalam perkembangan otak kanak#kanak keguguran padaibu hamil dan berat kelahiran bayi yang kurang berbanding normal.

&erdedah kepada paras arsenik yang rendah dalam tempoh masa yanglama pula menyebabkan pening kepala dan muntah#muntahmengurangkan jumlah sel darah merah dan putih menyebabkandenyutan jantung tidak normal merosakkan salur darah menyebabkansemut#semut atau kebas di tangan dan kaki. Arsenik yang tinggi jugadikaitkan dengan kenaikan kadar kanser kulit kanser paru#paru danlain#lain. !i antara tanda#tanda seseorang itu terdedah kepada arsenikdalam tempoh yang lama ialah mendapat kanser kulit tompok#tompokhitam atau tahi lalat kecil#kecil di tangan kaki dan badan. )ara yangdisarankan bagi mengelakkan pengambilan arsenik daripada paip air

ialah dengan menggunakan penapis air. *alaupun kandungan arsenik


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yang berlebihan ini tidak dikesan di Malaysia kita harus berhati#hati danmengambil langkah berjaga#jaga+.Artikel berkaitan dipanjangkan dibawah ini+

,ow arsenic gets into (oods and what it means (or you.By Brenda Goodman, MA

Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD

-ecent in'estigations ha'e (ound the toin arsenic in rice and applejuice. )onsumer -eports published results o( their tests o( // samples o(apple and grape juices. 0ine samples had more arsenic than the (ederalgo'ernment allows in drinking water. %n a separate analysis o(go'ernment nutrition data researchers commissioned by )onsumer-eports also (ound that Americans who reported drinking apple or grape

juice had arsenic le'els in their urine that were 123 higher than peoplewho didn4t drink those juices. Similarly researchers at !artmouthMedical School (ound that pregnant women who reported eating rice hadhigher le'els o( arsenic in their urine than women who didn4t eat rice.5ating just hal( a cup o( rice a day the researchers reported couldepose someone to just as much arsenic as i( they had been drinkingwater at the go'ernment4s maimum allowable limit. Should you beworried about being eposed to arsenic in (ood? &he author consultedeperts who study arsenic to answer your 6uestions.

*hat is arsenic and how does it get into (oods?Arsenic is a naturally occurring element that4s (ound in soil and water. %thas also been used by (armers as a pesticide and a (ertili7er. %t is alsoused to preser'e pressure#treated wood. 8ike lead mercury and otherhea'y metals arsenic can persist in soil (or years a(ter it is applied tocrops. Much o( the rice grown in the Southern U.S. (or eample growsin paddies that were once cotton (ields. )otton (armers are known toha'e used arsenic#based pesticides to control bugs called boll wee'ils.9ther studies ha'e shown that arsenic content in soil is higher aroundri'ers and may be related to soil teture. )lay soils ha'e more naturallyoccurring arsenic. Because o( its chemical structure plants mistakearsenic (or necessary nutrients and readily absorb it (rom the soil.

Are there particular (oods that it4s in?:All plants pick up arsenic; "ohn M. !ubury Ph! a pro(essor o( soilscience and international agriculture at )ornell Uni'ersity in %thaca 0.


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contaminated soils.; But because we eat a much lower 'olume o( lea(ygreens compared to other kinds o( (oods

:arsenic intake (rom this source is also low; !ubury says. -ice appearsto be particularly 'ulnerable to arsenic contamination because it grows inwater. Arsenic dissol'es easily in water. So drinking water has long beenmonitored as a source o( eposure to arsenic. Because rice is grown inpaddies which are (looded with water it can be eposed to higheramounts o( arsenic than plants grown in drier soils !ubury says. &racyPunshon Ph! a research assistant pro(essor at !artmouth )ollege in,ano'er 0.,. has =#rayed rice grains to see where they store arsenic.She (ound that arsenic concentrates in the part o( the grain called thegerm which is remo'ed to make white rice. &hat means brown rice hashigher concentrations o( arsenic that white rice. Studies by Scottish

researchers ha'e (ound higher le'els o( arsenic in rice grown in the U.S.than in basmati or jasmine rice (rom &hailand or %ndia. &he highest le'elso( arsenic in U.S.#grown rice came (rom Southern states. &he lowestle'els were detected in rice grown in )ali(ornia. Sea(ood also has highle'els o( arsenic though most eperts belie'e the (orm o( arsenic insea(ood to be nontoic. )alcium supplements made (rom sea(ood mayalso contain high amounts o( arsenic.

*hat are the potential health conse6uences?

At 'ery high le'els arsenic can be (atal. At lower le'els arsenic cancause nausea and 'omiting and decrease the amount o( red and whiteblood cells produced by the body. %t also causes abnormal heartrhythms may damage blood 'essels and causes a pins and needlessensation in the hands and (eet. ,owe'er (ar less is understood aboutwhat happens to people when they are eposed to low le'els o( arsenico'er a long period o( time. :&his is a relati'ely new area o( research;says arsenic epert Ana 0a'as#Acien M! Ph!. %t4s clear that arsenic isassociated with higher rates o( skin bladder and lung cancers says0a'as#Acien an assistant pro(essor o( en'ironmental health sciencesand epidemiology at "ohns ,opkins Bloomberg School o( Public ,ealthin Baltimore. :*hen a substance is a carcinogen it4s generally acarcinogen through the whole range o( eposure le'els; she says. Atlower le'els it probably causes (ewer cases o( cancer though the risk isstill there. Beyond cancer she says more e'idence suggests that low tomoderate le'els o( eposure > just about the U.S. standard (or drinkingwater o( 2 parts per billion > may cause cardio'ascular disease.)hronic arsenic eposure may also a((ect the lungs leading to breathingproblems. %n children 0a'as#Acien says emerging e'idence suggests

that arsenic may cause problems with brain de'elopment. Arsenic may


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also contribute to problems with pregnancy like miscarriages and lowbirth weight.

Should % stop drinking juice or should my kids?People shouldn4t shun the juice aisle says -ichard *. Stahlhut M!MP, a toicologist at the Uni'ersity o( -ochester in 0ew the toic kind >it considers those (indings on a case#by#case basis and takes regulatoryaction where necessary. %n September the @!A said it was consideringsetting a standard (or (ruit juice.

*hat are the signs that someone may ha'e gotten too much arsenic(rom their diet?

)hronic eposure to arsenic has 'ery (ew symptoms especially at thelow le'els seen in *estern countries. 8ong#term eposure to arsenic(rom water is known to cause skin discoloration that looks like (reckles orsmall moles on the hands (eet or trunk.

*hat should you do i( you eperience those symptoms?%( you4re concerned you may ha'e been eposed to arsenic in (ood or

water a doctor can test (or arsenic in your blood urine hair or(ingernails. %( you4re concerned you may be getting arsenic (rom wellwater you can test the well and use water (ilters to remo'e the arsenic(rom your drinking water.

*hat is the di((erence between organic and inorganic arsenic?%n the en'ironment arsenic combines with oygen chlorine and sul(urto (orm inorganic arsenic compounds. %n plants and animals arseniccombines with hydrogen and oygen to (orm organic arseniccompounds. %norganic kinds o( arsenic are thought to be the most

dangerous (or human health but 'ery little is known about organic


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arsenic. :&his is a contro'ersial topic with an ongoing debate amongsttoicologists; !ubury says.

pencemaran arsenik

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