Drinking Water with Arsenic is Dangerous for Pregnant Women & Their Infants

Pregnant women beware! If your water supply has arsenic, it will change the genes in your infant, according to a recent press release. Researchers found that consuming arsenic contaminated water could lead to diseases later in life, including cancer, in developing infants.

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology detailed their findings. Arsenic in the water supply is passed to developing infants from their mothers. This process causes a change in the genes of their infants that can lead to an increased risk of disease.

This was one of the first studies that sought to determine whether or not environmental toxins had any effects on unborn infants. The researchers found that approximately 450 different genes were altered in those infants who were exposed to arsenic by their mothers while the mother was pregnant.

"We were looking to see whether we could have figured out that these babies were exposed in utero" just by using the gene expression screening on the stored blood samples. The answer was a resounding yes," said Leona D. Samson, Director of MIT's Center for Environmental Health Sciences (CEHS) and the American Cancer Society Professor in the Departments of Biological Engineering and Biology at MIT.

Additionally, while researchers noted the changes in 450 genes, there were 11 different genes that could determine whether or not an infant was exposed to arsenic before they were born.

The good news is that researchers are developing methods to screen pregnant women and other affected populations to see if they show any signs of arsenic contamination by using blood tests to screen these 11 genes.

Researchers analyzed the blood from umbilical cords that were collected at birth. They also used toenail clippings to analyze the arsenic exposure of the mothers. The particular genes that were most affected are those that are associated with developing inflammation. This can lead to a higher risk of developing cancer.

This study was conducted on 32 pregnant women and their infants in Thailand. Researchers say that it is important to note that similar levels of arsenic are likely in the water supplies of many areas within the United States, including areas of the Southwestern U.S.

Since determining that the drinking water contained arsenic and this had a negative effect on their infants, the local governments are providing an alternative source of safe drinking water for the villages that are affected.

The study is being published in the Public Library of Science journal, PLoS Genetics. The Chulabhorn Research Institute and the National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences funded this study.

Source:
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-11/miot-mpa111507.php