[Evaluation of the arsenic content of the air]

Determinations of the arsenic contents in subjects, aged 10-11 years, from an arsenic-exposed region yielded the following arithmetic means: hair, 5.5 p.p.m. (S.D. = +/- 4.2); urine, 0.011 p.p.m. (S.D. = +/- 0.010). In children from a non-exposed region the authors found; hair, 0.5 p.p.m. (S.D. = +/- 0.4); urine, 0.004 p.p.m. (S.D. = +/- 0.005). The average arsenic concentrations in the exposed region were 19 mg/m2-30 d (sedimentation dust) and 0.9 microgram/m3 (aerosol); the corresponding values for the control region were 0.029 mg/m2-30 d and 0.0 microgram/m3, respectively. The two groups of subjects had general clinical examinations. There was a significant difference between the two groups in total morbidity, whereas the morbidity structure was similar. This result cannot be brought in causal relation to the differences in arsenic contents; it is possible that other influences play a rôle in the region under investigation.