Sources of arsenic exposure hazards in and around buildings and in building materials & in drinking water.

Page to photo: arsenic detection equipment for arsenic in water, discussed in this article series.

Arsine Gas Exposure Hazards - Arsenic Hydride in & Around Buildings

In Richard Austin Freeman's "As a Thief in the Night" first published in 1928, Thorndyke, a medical and legal forensic investigation expert determines that a combination of arsenic sources were used to poison two people: arsenic-saturated stearic candles combined with antique wallpaper containing arsenic green.

Freeman's fictional forensic expert Thorndyke and his solution to the murders were based on sound science about sources of arsenic and arsenic poisoning.

Freeman/Thorndyke describe poisoning by arsine off-gassing from arsenic-green coloured wallpaper. Other sources pose that actual physical bits of flaking wallpaper containing arsenic may also have been a source of poison for building occupants.

Arsenic would have been taken in by breathing of either arsine gas or small particles of arsenic-contaminated paper and dust from the wallpaper.

[Click to enlarge any image]

Watch out: indeed some antique green wallpaper pigments used arsenic green and may interact with some molds to release poisonous arsenic.

In wallpaper Scheele's Green (inventor Carl Wilhelm Schele 1775) or Schloss Green, a cupric hydrogen arsenite or copper arsenite (CuHAsO3) was used to impart a yellowish green pigment color.

Copper arsenite was used in more than wallpaper, also making its appearance in paints, wax candles, and even in insecticides and green food dyes.

Photo above: arsenic green used to produce green colors in antique wallpaper can be a source of arsenic poisoning, particularly during wallpaper removal but also where this wallpaper is present in humid conditions or where moisture and mold on the wallpaper combine to release arsine gas.

[Click to enlarge any image]

Common Sources of Arsenic in / around buildings

Arsenic and arsenic compounds have been produced and used commercially for centuries. Current and historical uses of arsenic include pharmaceuticals, wood preservatives, agricultural chemicals, and applications in the mining, metallurgical, glass-making, and semiconductor industries. - NCBI-NIH (2019)

This list is ordered alphabetically, not by order of probability nor of probable arsenic exposure risk.

• Arsenic from natural sources
  
  around buildings in air, water, soil
  
  

  Arsenic is released into the air by volcanoes, through weathering of arsenic-containing minerals and ores, and by commercial or industrial processes.

  Arsenic occurs naturally in the earth’s crust, and much of its dispersion in the environment stems from mining and commercial uses. In industry, arsenic is a byproduct of the smelting process (separation of metal from rock) for many metal ores ... - US CDC ATSDR (2019)

• Arsenic in book covers or book cloth bindings
  
  Arsenic was occasionally used in copper arsenate form to produce a green pigment used on some book covers or bindings, particularly in books creeated between 1830 and 1880. Some sources put the common use of arsenic in book covers and bindings earlier, at 1820.
  
  And indeed a few InspectApedia.com readers have encountered and reported to us just this hazard.
  
  Watch out: don't assume that only emerald green colored bookcloth or bindings contained arsenic. This arsenic hazard may be in books of other colors, such as red or brown or mixed / marbled book cover / binding colors.
  
  See
  
  Everhart, Megan M.F., Arsenic and Old Books, UD Researchers discovrer the poisonous substance may be hinding in libraries across the world [Web Article] June 15, 2022, local copy saved as Arsenic-old-books-UD.pdf
  
  Museums Victoria, If books could kill: poison, heavy metal and literature [Web Article] Museums Victoria, Australia, (Robert French) - retrieved 2024/07/04
  
  Univrersity of Chicago Library, Handling Books That May Contain Arsenic [web article] University of Chicago Library News, i May 2023
  And this website author describes an example of a book whose binding contains arsenic in its book cloth:
  
  Annie Randall White, "Do You Have Toxic Bookcloth in your Library?" [web article] Social Culture, A Manual of Etiquette and Deportment
  
  Also see our warnings about the relationship between moisture, mold, and arsenic in wallpaper found below on this page.
  
  And when handling old books also see
  
  ASBESTOS BOOKS & BOOKBINDING
  
  and
  
  FOXING STAINS on BOOKS & PAPERS
• Arsenic in electronic devices
  
  Arsenic used in electronic devices (gallium arsenide and arsine gas in semiconductors)
• Arsenic as an Embalming agent
  
  used in the U.S. in the late 19th and early 20th centuries (Meyers 2020)
• Arsenic Contamination in Food
  
  exposure to arsenic, according to US EPA this is the most-common source of exposure. (US EPA Arsenic Compounds (2000)
• Arsenic in Herbicides & Pesticides:
  
  Arsenic (arsenic trioxide)in algecides, dessicants (cotton harvesting), glass manufacturing, herbicides (weed killers), non-ferrous alloys, pesticides , defoliants, even in "moonshine" whiskey.
  
  The toxicity of Scheele's green led to a renewed use combined with Paris Green as an insecticide in the 1930s.
• Arsenic in Medicine:
  
  Arsenic in medical uses: chemotherapy and in some traditional remedies used in some Asian countries (Garvey et al. 2001; Chan 1994), and in some homeopathic remedies (Kerr and Saryan 1986)
  
  Arsenic in the form of Fowler's solution (1% arsenic trioxide) was used to treat psoriasis & eczema, leukemia, stomatitis, but resulted in skin cancers and was discontinued.
  
  Arsenic (Salvarsan) was used as an effective cure for syphilis until it was replaced by antibiotics such as penicillin.
• Arsenic in Preservative-treated wood:
  
  Arsenic in older preservative-treated lumber that used CCA - copper chromated arsenate
  
  See details at PRESERVATIVE TREATED FRAMING LUMBER
• Arsenic in Wallpaper,
  
  Arsenic released from antique wallpaper that used arsenic-green, combined with moisture & mold growth:
  

  Arsenic green, also called Scheele's green was first described in 1775 [1771 per some sources] by Swedish Scientist Wilhelm Scheele who observed that poisonous copper arsenate produced a darkened "pea green" color that had commercial potential.

  Scheele's green was improved by Wilhelm Sattler (1814) by combining arsenic and verdigris to produce a more-stable colour that is probably what is found in wallpaper products, still referred-to as Scheele green.
  
  Previously green pigments were based on copper carbonate - a mixture of sodium carbonate and sulfates of copper. Scheele found that combining sodium carbonate, arsenious oxide and copper sulfate produced more-permanent green dye - copper arsenite. The intensity of "arsenic green" could be adjusted by changing both the mixing temperature and the ratio of copper to arsenic.
  
  The result was a stable green pigment that was widely used in a range of products from artificial flowers to wallpaper, even as a food coloring dye in sweets ... until it was realised that moisture and mold activity on arsenic-green dyed paper released toxic arsine gas that could poison or even kill building occupants.
  
  Nineteenth-century journals contained reports of children wasting away in bright green rooms, of ladies in green dresses swooning and newspaper printers being overcome by arsenic vapors. There is one example of an acute poisoning of children attending a Christmas party where dyed candles were burned. - Wikipedia - ret. 2021/01/28
  
  See details at MOLD RELATED ILLNESS SYMPTOMS - ARSENIC POISONING
  
  In our article on mold growth on various surfaces,
  
  at ARSENIC GREEN in WALLPAPER we note that the death of 19-year-old Matilda Scheurer in 1861 was ascribed to her work as an artificial flower maker who used arsenic green for her flower colours.
  

• Arsenic in Water:
  
  Arsenic in drinking water, also in surface waters, runoffs, and some bodies of water, also in floodwaters
  
  See details at ARSENIC in WATER

Arsine Gas in Buildings

Photo: antique green wall coverings may contain asbestos and of course old paint is likely to contain lead.

Arsine is arsenic hydride, the combination of arsenic metal and hydrogen gas. Arsine is a water-soluble gas. It is given off whenever freshly-generated hydrogen contacts metallic arsenic especially in an acid environment.

Arsine is a gas consisting of arsenic and hydrogen. It is extremely toxic to humans, with headaches, vomiting, and abdominal pains occurring within a few hours of exposure.

EPA has not classified arsine for carcinogenicity.  (US EPA 2000)

Example of a source:

As a lead-acid storage battery approaches full charge (in formation or boosting or simply charging), some hydrogen evolves.

When arsenic is present in the grids of that battery, some arsine is formed and escapes through the vent caps. If the battery is seriously overcharged, much hydrogen (and arsine if a lead-arsenic alloy is used in the plates) may be given off; an ignition source can then cause the gases to explode.

The main acute effects of arsine on people are lung irritation and hemolysis (destruction of red blood cells). Both effects are usually delayed and do not appear until several hours after the exposure that typically occurs during the acid washing of a tank that has contained an arsenical slag.

Of the two, hemolysis is usually the more serious and is first indicated by pink or red urine that becomes darker with successive voidings.

Debris from damaged red cells "clogs up" the kidneys, leading to extremely severe pain and, eventually, to a stoppage of urine flow.

Because red cells have been destroyed, severe anemia results so that oxygenation of tissue is impaired. In addition, there may be severe lung irritation (impeding proper oxygenation of blood); death may result from asphyxiation a few days after the exposure.

These effects of arsine are completely avoided if 8-hr exposures are kept at or below 200 ug/cu. m, (0.05 ppm), the TLV and PEL. Whether or not arsine has any chronic effects (such as the causation of cancer) is not known because there has been no study of people or animals chronically exposed to this material.

There are, therefore, no data available indicating that arsine is a carcinogen. Of the three "standards setting" groups, NIOSH is the only one that recommends extremely strict control (2.0 ug/cu. m as determined by 15-min samples) of arsine exposures.

All of the information upon which NIOSH based its Recommended Standard was (and is) available to anyone, including ACGIH and OSHA, of course. If half of the arsine inhaled is excreted in the urine (as seems to be the case for particulate arsenic compounds), then, inhalation of 200 ug/cu. m should result in a urinary concentration on the order of 666 ug/L.

Under these circumstances, then, urinary arsenic concentrations might well be useful as indices of arsine exposure/absorption. However, there is very little data in the literature concerning urine concentrations resulting from measured arsine exposures.

Also see WALLPAPER ARSENIC + MOLD POISONING from green-pigmented wallpaper using arsenic green in our index to mold growths on building surfaces

Mold release of arsenic in buildings is also discussed

at MOLD RELATED ILLNESS SYMPTOMS - ARSENIC POISONING

Also see ARSENIC IN WATER for more information about arsenic poisoning symptoms and effects.

References on Arsenic Poisoning & Arsenic Sources in or Around Buildings & in Drinking Water

• Alabama DEM, GROUND WATER CONTAMINATION [PDF] Alabama Department of Environmental Management, compiled with US EPA
  Excerpt:
  
  Ground water contamination occurs when ground water comes in contact with naturally occurring contaminants or with contaminants introduced into the environment by anthropogenic activities.
  
  Naturally occurring substances found locally in soil and rocks that can affect ground water include lead, iron, manganese, Applied correctly, pesticides and fertilizer have minimal impact on ground water quality. aluminum, selenium, and arsenic, as well as petroleum, microorganisms, and brine (salty water).
  
  Contaminants associated with human activity most commonly include bacteria, petroleum products, natural and synthetic organic compounds, fertilizer, pesticides, herbicides, and metals.
• ARSENIC in DRINKING WATER article at InspectApedia.com
• ARSENIC GREEN in WALLPAPER article at InspectApedia.com
• ARSENIC in WATER article at InspectApedia.com
• Ball, Philip. "William Morris made poisonous wallpaper." Nature (12 June 2003) - retrieved 2021/01/28 original source: https://www.nature.com/news/2003/030609/full/news030609-11.html
  
  Excerpts:
  William Morris (1834-1896) was a poet, artist, designer, Romantic, socialist, advocate of a return to traditional craft styles and materials - and a peddler of poisonous wallpaper, according to a new study.
  
  Morris was not ignorant of the health hazard. He was a shareholder and sometime director of his father's mining company, Devon Great Consols (DGC), the largest arsenic producer of the age. DGC workers were plagued by arsenic-related illnesses, and many died from lung disease. The company's activities caused immense environmental damage.
  
  Nonetheless he dismissed public concerns about arsenic-based pigments in wallpapers, writing in a letter in 1885: "a greater folly is hardly possible to imagine: the doctors were bitten by witch fever." If there was really a problem, Morris asserted, "we should be sure to hear of it."
• Bangladesh, ARSENIC CONTAMINATION OF GROUND WATER IN BANGLADESH, A BRIEFING PAPER [PDF] an article on extreme arsenic poisoning from well water in Bangladesh, from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Bangladesh
  
  Dr. A Z M Iftikhar Hussain, Project Director, Arsenic Contamination Mitigation Projects, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh,NIPSOM Building, (Room NO 324), Mohakhali, Dhaka-1212
  
  Bangladesh, E-mail: iftikhar@bdonline.com; Original source: physics department at Harvard University: http://www.physics.harvard.edu/~wilson/arsenic/countries/bangladesh/Minofhlth_bang.html
• Bentley, Ronald, & Thomas G. Chasteen (2002). "Microbial Methylation of Metalloids: Arsenic, Antimony, and Bismuth". Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews. 66 (2): 250–271. doi:10.1128/MMBR.66.2.250-271.2002. PMC 120786. PMID 12040126.
• Berg, Michael, Hong Con Tran, Thi Chuyen Nguyen, Hung Viet Pham, Roland Schertenleib, and Walter Giger. "Arsenic contamination of groundwater and drinking water in Vietnam: a human health threat." Environmental science & technology 35, no. 13 (2001): 2621-2626.
• Carlson, Laurie Winn. A fever in Salem: a new interpretation of the New England witch trials. Ivan R. Dee, 1999.
  
  Was arsenic poisoning an explanation of behaviour that led to the New England witch trials?
• Chen, Weifang, Robert Parette, Jiying Zou, Fred S. Cannon, and Brian A. Dempsey. "Arsenic removal by iron-modified activated carbon." Water research 41, no. 9 (2007): 1851-1858.
  
  Iron-impregnated activated carbons have been found to be very effective in arsenic removal. Oxyanionic arsenic species such as arsenate and arsenite adsorb at the iron oxyhydroxide surface by forming complexes with the surface sites.
  
  Our goal has been to load as much iron within the carbon pores as possible while also rendering as much of the iron to be available for sorbing arsenic. Surface oxidation of carbon by HNO3/H2SO4 or by HNO3/KMnO4 increased the amount of iron that could be loaded to 7.6–8.0%; arsenic stayed below 10 ppb until 12,000 bed volumes during rapid small-scale tests (RSSCTs) using Rutland, MA groundwater (40–60 ppb arsenic, and pH of 7.6–8.0).
  
  Boehm titrations showed that surface oxidation greatly increased the concentration of carboxylic and phenolic surface groups. Iron impregnation by precipitation or iron salt evaporation was also evaluated. Iron content was increased to 9–17% with internal iron-loading, and to 33.6% with both internal and external iron loading.
  
  These iron-tailored carbons reached 25,000–34,000 bed volumes to 10 ppb arsenic breakthrough during RSSCTs. With the 33.6% iron loading, some iron peeled off.
• Enderlin, Ute S., Ranier E Enderliein, W. Peter Williams, WATER QUALITY REQUIREMENTS [PDF] WHO, World Health Organization, retrieved 2016/09/15, original source: http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/resourcesquality/wpcchap2.pdf
  
  Notes water quality criteria for irrigation for arsenic set for sensitive and tolerant drops, by
  
  Canada, FAO, & NIgeria of 0.1 mg/L arsenic
  
  And defines five lasses of surface freshwater for maintenance of aquatic life, Class I - Class V, with levels of arsenic specified from <10 ug/L to > 360 ug/L. Noting that forms of arsenic may be convertd from Arsenic V converted from Arsenic III.

The arsenic green antique wallpaper illustrated below is discussed by Eschner (2017) cited here.

• Eschner Kat, "Arsenic and Old Tastes Made Victorian Wallpaper Deadly - Victorians were obsessed with vividly-colored wallpaper, which is on-trend for this year–though arsenic poisoning is never in style" Smithsonian Magazine, April 3, 2017, retrieved 2019/02/23 original source: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/victorian-wallpaper-got-its-gaudy-colors-poison-180962709/
  
  Archived copy also at https://inspectapedia.com/Environment/Arsenic-Victorian-Wallpaper-Deadly-Eschner-Smithsonian.pdf
• Haslam, Jessica Charlotte. DEADLY DÉCOR: A SHORT HISTORY OF ARSENIC POISONING IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY [PDF] Res Medica 21, no. 1 (2013): 76-81. Retrieved 2021/01/28 original source: http://journals.ed.ac.uk/resmedica/article/view/182
  Abstract:
  
  At the beginning of the 19th century, wallpapers containing Scheele’s green pigments were a commonplace finding in the houses of Britain.
  
  Despite apprehensions and documented cases concerning their safety dating back as far as this, it was not until later in the century when leading physicians began to support poisoning theories and a potential mechanism was found, that the general public took notice.
  
  Despite the increasing body of support for campaigns to ban the production of such papers, parliament ignored the public health scandal choosing instead to favour the huge profit arsenic mining brought by it.
  
  Regardless of the lack of legislation, wallpapers containing arsenic pigments eventually fell out of popularity as the public voted with their feet and chose to purchase “arsenic-free” papers instead.
• Hawksley, Lucinda. de la source Bitten by witch fever: wallpaper & arsenic in the Victorian home. distributeur Thames & Hudson; In association with the National Archives, 2017.
• Katz, Sidney A., and Harry Salem. "Chemistry and toxicology of building timbers pressure‐treated with chromated copper arsenate: a review." Journal of Applied Toxicology: An International Journal 25, no. 1 (2005): 1-7.
• Kumar, P. Ratna, Sanjeev Chaudhari, Kartic C. Khilar, and S. P. Mahajan. "Removal of arsenic from water by electrocoagulation." Chemosphere 55, no. 9 (2004): 1245-1252.
• Mohan, Dinesh, and Charles U. Pittman. "Arsenic removal from water/wastewater using adsorbents—a critical review." Journal of Hazardous materials 142, no. 1 (2007): 1-53.
  
  Arsenic's history in science, medicine and technology has been overshadowed by its notoriety as a poison in homicides.
  
  Arsenic is viewed as being synonymous with toxicity. Dangerous arsenic concentrations in natural waters is now a worldwide problem and often referred to as a 20th–21st century calamity.
  
  High arsenic concentrations have been reported recently from the USA, China, Chile, Bangladesh, Taiwan, Mexico, Argentina, Poland, Canada, Hungary, Japan and India.
  
  Among 21 countries in different parts of the world affected by groundwater arsenic contamination, the largest population at risk is in Bangladesh followed by West Bengal in India. Existing overviews of arsenic removal include technologies that have traditionally been used (oxidation, precipitation/coagulation/membrane separation) with far less attention paid to adsorption.
  
  No previous review is available where readers can get an overview of the sorption capacities of both available and developed sorbents used for arsenic remediation together with the traditional remediation methods.
  
  We have incorporated most of the valuable available literature on arsenic remediation by adsorption (∼600 references). Existing purification methods for drinking water; wastewater; industrial effluents, and technological solutions for arsenic have been listed.
  
  Arsenic sorption by commercially available carbons and other low-cost adsorbents are surveyed and critically reviewed and their sorption efficiencies are compared. Arsenic adsorption behavior in presence of other impurities has been discussed. Some commercially available adsorbents are also surveyed.
  
  An extensive table summarizes the sorption capacities of various adsorbents.
  
  Some low-cost adsorbents are superior including treated slags, carbons developed from agricultural waste (char carbons and coconut husk carbons), biosorbents (immobilized biomass, orange juice residue), goethite and some commercial adsorbents, which include resins, gels, silica, treated silica tested for arsenic removal come out to be superior. Immobilized biomass adsorbents offered outstanding performances.
  
  Desorption of arsenic followed by regeneration of sorbents has been discussed. Strong acids and bases seem to be the best desorbing agents to produce arsenic concentrates. Arsenic concentrate treatment and disposal obtained is briefly addressed. This issue is very important but much less discussed.
• Katsoyiannis, Ioannis A., and Anastasios I. Zouboulis. "Removal of arsenic from contaminated water sources by sorption onto iron-oxide-coated polymeric materials." Water research 36, no. 20 (2002): 5141-5155.
• Meharg, A. The arsenic green. Nature, 423, 688, (12 June 2003). retrieved 2012/01/28 original source: https://www.nature.com/articles/423688a
  Excerpt:
  
  From 1867 onwards, DGC was the major supplier of arsenic for the production of green pigments following the synthesis in the late eighteenth century of copper arsenite, named Scheele's green after its discoverer.
  
  These pigments were widely used in wallpapers. In damp rooms, fungi living on the wallpaper paste turned the arsenic salts into highly toxic trimethylarsine.
  
  Arsenic pigments, which were also used extensively in paints and to dye clothes, paper, cardboard, food, soap, and artificial and dried flowers, were responsible for untold numbers of cases of chronic illness and many deaths.
  
  Was Morris using the arsenic from DGC in his own products? Evidence to suggest that he was comes from correspondence with Thomas Wardle, his dye manufacturer.
• Meyers, Maureen S., David Breetzke, and Henry Holt. "Arsenic and Old Graves: A Method for Testing Arsenic Contamination in Historic Cemeteries." Advances in Archaeological Practice: 1-7. (22 December 2020)
  Abstract:
  
  During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, arsenic was used as an embalming agent in the United States. In 1996, Konefes and McGee brought the potential danger of arsenic poisoning during excavation to the attention of archaeologists.
  
  They developed methodology that was later refined by the present authors. This article discusses the history of arsenic as an embalming agent, explores socioeconomic and demographic factors that might suggest the presence of arsenic in certain burials, and presents methods for testing arsenic in archaeological contexts.
  
  We also discuss environmental impact mitigation considerations and review examples of arsenic testing in archaeological contexts.
• Brunton, T. Lauder, M.D., F.R.S., , ARSENICAL POISONING by WALL-PAPERS [PDF] I. REPORT ON EVIDENCE REGARDING THE INJURIOUS EFFECTS ON HEALTH ARISING FROM ARSENICAL WALL-PAPERS AND OTHER ARTICLES
  CONTAINING ARSENIC. II. National Health Society: Committee on Arsenic in Domestic Fabrics, Br Med J. 1883 Jun 23; 1(1173): 1218–1220. Copies available at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2372639/?page=1
  
  Excerpt:
  The vidence on this subject consists partly of articles published in various journals, and partly of answers to a circular. on the subject sent out by the Medical Society of London (see BRITISH MEDICAL JOURNAL, February 21st, 1880).
  
  The nature of the evidence is, first, that certain symptoms have occurred in persons exposed to the infi uence of certain conditions;
  
  secondly, that, on attempting to analyse these conditions with the object of finding out the cause of injury, none could be discovered at all likely to produce the symptoms, except arsenic;
  
  thirdly, that the symptoms coincided in many respects with those produced by arsenic when administered internally;
  
  fourthly, that the symptoms disappeared when the arsenic was removed, although, as far as could be ascertained, the other conditions remained unaltered.
  
  The number of cases on which the report of the Committee of the Medical Society of London was based was a little over one hundred; and, besides these, numerous cases have been reported in medical journals. Considering the extensive use of arsenic in wall-papers and articles of clothing and furniture, the number of cases may appear very small, and quite insufficient to prove the necessity for any form of legislative interference.
  
  This objection, we believe, however, to be invalid. It is exactly the same in kind as that which may be brought against interference with systems of drainage which contaminate drinkingwater with typhoid excreta, or against the free distribution of milk supplied from dairies where typhoid or scarlet fever exists.
  
  The comparative smallness of the number of cases of poisoning by arsenical wall-papers is, we believe, simply due to ignorance of -the injurious action of arsenic in papers, dress, or furniture, and consequent failure to perceive the connection between the illness and its cause.
  
  II. NATIONAL HEALTH SOCIETY: COMMITTEE ON ARSENIC IN DOMESTIC FABRICS. Chemical Report on the Test to be employed for the Detection of Arsenic.-It was found that, on the Continent, Acts or decrees exist, forbidding the sale of wall-papers, curtains, carpets, and textile fabrics generally, if they contain arsenic.
  
  This article describes in complete detail the methods used to test materials for arsenic including the Reinsch process and the modified Marsh test for arsenic.
  
  Excerpt:
  
  We were at first of opinion that Reinsch's process, carefully conducted so as to ensure uniformity of results, might be employed; but several wall-papers and many textile fabrics having been found which gaveno arsenicalreactionwith Reinsch's test, however carefully conducted, but which, nevertheless, were subsequently proved to contain notable quantities of arsenic, this method was proved not to be an absolutely reliable, test.
  
  A modification of Marsh's test is recommended as the most reliable, and as most suitable for a standard test to be inserted in an Act of Parliament.
  
  Detailed instructions are subjoined for both tests, in order that those 'who still desire to use Reinsch's method may get results comparable with the prescribed test by the modification of Marsh's process where arsenic is found.
  
  STANDARD TEST. No paper should be passed as " non-arsenical," unless, when treated as hereafter described, it fails to yield a mirror in a tube i inch internal diameter, sufficient to cut off at any point a black line on a white ground, technically known as thick rule (eight to pica).
  

NOTICE: as of 2019/02/23 OSHA had made the following arsenic exposure standards pages "temporarily unavailable"

• OSHA Arsenic Regulations, Construction Industry (29 CFR 1926) Subpart Z – Toxic and Hazardous Substances 1926.1118, Inorganic arsenic. The requirements applicable to construction work under this section are identical to those set forth by 29 CFR 1910.1018. - https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/regulations/standardnumber/1926/1926.1118
• OSHA, Arsenic Regulations, General Industry (29 CFR 1910) Subpart Z – Toxic and Hazardous Substances 1910.1018, Inorganic arsenic - https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/regulations/standardnumber/1910/1910.1018
• OSHA, Arsenic Regulations, Maritime (29 CFR 1915, 1917, 1918) Subpart Z – Toxic and Hazardous Substances 1915.1018, Inorganic arsenic. The requirements applicable to shipyard employment under this section are identical to those set forth by 29 CFR 1910.1018. - https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/regulations/standardnumber/1915/1915.1018

for more OSHA references on Arsenic Hazards see

• ARSENIC HAZARD RECOGNITION - links to various articles & standards, https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/arsenic/hazards.html

• Song, S., A. Lopez-Valdivieso, D. J. Hernandez-Campos, C. Peng, M. G. Monroy-Fernandez, and I. Razo-Soto. "Arsenic removal from high-arsenic water by enhanced coagulation with ferric ions and coarse calcite." Water Research 40, no. 2 (2006): 364-372.
  
  Arsenic removal from high-arsenic water in a mine drainage system has been studied through an enhanced coagulation process with ferric ions and coarse calcite (38–74 μm) in this work.
  
  The experimental results have shown that arsenic-borne coagulates produced by coagulation with ferric ions alone were very fine, so micro-filtration (membrane as filter medium) was needed to remove the coagulates from water.
  
  In the presence of coarse calcite, small arsenic-borne coagulates coated on coarse calcite surfaces, leading the settling rate of the coagulates to considerably increase.
  
  The enhanced coagulation followed by conventional filtration (filter paper as filter medium) achieved a very high arsenic removal (over 99%) from high-arsenic water (5 mg/l arsenic concentration), producing a cleaned water with the residual arsenic concentration of 13 μg/l.
  
  It has been found that the mechanism by which coarse calcite enhanced the coagulation of high-arsenic water might be due to attractive electrical double layer interaction between small arsenic-borne coagulates and calcite particles, which leads to non-existence of a potential energy barrier between the heterogeneous particles.
• Jang Min, Weifang Chen, Jiying Zou, Fred S. Cannon, Brian Dempsey, ARSENIC REMOVAL BY IRON-MODIFIED ACTIVATED CARBON [PDF], Water Research Foundation, retrieved 2017/03/26, original source: http://www.waterrf.org/publicreportlibrary/3158.pdf
  
  Min Jang, Weifang Chen, Jiying Zou, Fred S. Cannon, and Brian A. Dempsey The Pennsylvania State University Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering 212 Sackett Engineering Building University Park, PA 16802
  
  Jointly Sponsored by: Water Research Foundation 6666 West Quincy Avenue, Denver CO 80235-3098 and U.S. Department of Energy Washington, D.C. 20585-1290 Published by: WERC, a Consortium for Water Research Foundation Environmental Education and Technology Development at New Mexico State University
• PRESERVATIVE TREATED FRAMING LUMBER including copper arsenate hazards to workers.
  Excerpt:
  
  Health Concerns for Chromated-Copper Arsenate (CCA) Pressure Treated Lumber Despite CCA’s track record as an effective, economical wood preservative, its safety has long been questioned by health and environmental advocates.
  
  Their primary focus has been CCA’s heavy concentration of arsenic, a known carcinogen.
  
  Although most experts agree that leaching of arsenic from CCA lumber is minimal and poses negligible health risks to end users, the industry acknowledges that CCA does pose risks to workers who handle the wet wood or burn scraps, and significant pollution around treating plants has been well documented.
  
  Also see Wood Construction Products MSDS.
• Uddin, Md Tamez, Md Salatul Islam Mozumder, A. Figoli, Md Akhtarul Islam, and E. Drioli, ARSENIC REMOVAL BY CONVENTIONAL AND MEMBRANE TECHNOLOGY: AN OVERVIEW. (2007). [PDF]
  Abstract
  
  Presently used arsenic removal technology has been reviewed, pointing especially to the promise of membrane technologies as a practical means of purification. The membrane technologies include reverse osmosis (RO), nanofiltration (NF), ultrafiltration (UF) and microfiltration (MF).
  
  Among them, the applications of the first two have proved to be reliable in removing arsenic from water.
  
  The influence of membrane materials, membrane type, operating conditions such as temperature, pressure, pH of the feed solution and feed concentration on arsenic removal efficiency by membrane technologies are discussed.
  
  This paper also provides a comparison between conventional technologies and membrane technologies for arsenic removal and concludes that membrane technology is preferred for water treatments to meet the maximum contaminant limit (MCL) standard.
• Uhlman, Kristine, Diane E. Boellstorff, Mark L. McFarland, Brent Clayton, John W. Smith, , TEXAS WELL OWNERS GUIDE to WATER SUPPLY [PDF] (2012) Texas A&M AgriLife Extension
  
  Excerpt:
  Household well owners in Texas are responsible for ensuring that their well water is safe to drink.
  
  People who drink polluted water can become sick and, in some cases, die. Health problems caused by contaminated well water include illnesses from bacteria such as E. coli, “blue baby syndrome,” and arsenic poisoning. Unsafe drinking water from wells is often caused by high concentrations of minerals—such as arsenic and uranium—that occur naturally across Texas.
• US ATSDR, ToxFAQs™ for Arsenic. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), (August 2007). Answers the most frequently asked health questions about arsenic.
  - https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxfaqs/TF.asp?id=19&tid=3
• US CDC ARSENIC AND DRINKING WATER FROM PRIVATE WELLS, [PDF] U.S. CDC, retrieved 2017/03/26, original source: https://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/drinking/private/wells/disease/arsenic.html
• US CDC ATSDR, ARSENIC TOXICITY, WHERE is ARSENIC FOUND? [PDF] (2009) ATSDR, US CDC, Course offered by ATSDR, retrieved 2019/02/23 original source: https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/csem/csem.asp?csem=1&po=5
• US EPA ARSENIC COMPOUNDS [PDF] (2000) Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Hazard Summary.
  - https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2016-09/documents/arsenic-compounds.pdf
  
  Excerpt: Acute (short-term) high-level inhalation exposure to arsenic dust or fumes has resulted in gastrointestinal effects (nausea, diarrhea, abdominal pain); central and peripheral nervous system disorders have occurred in workers acutely exposed to inorganic arsenic.
  
  Chronic (long-term) inhalation exposure to inorganic arsenic of humans is associated with irritation of the skin and mucous membranes and effects in the brain and nervous system.
  
  Chronic oral exposure to elevated levels of inorganic arsenic has resulted in gastrointestinal effects, anemia, peripheral neuropathy, skin lesions, hyperpigmentation, and liver or kidney damage in humans. Inorganic arsenic exposure of humans, by the inhalation route, has been shown to be strongly associated with lung cancer, while ingestion of inorganic arsenic by humans has been linked to a form of skin cancer and also to bladder, liver, and lung cancer.
  
  EPA has classified inorganic arsenic as a human carcinogen.
• US EPA Arsenic, inorganic (CASRN 7440-38-2). Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS). Discusses the health effects of arsenic, inorganic.
  - https://cfpub.epa.gov/ncea/iris2/chemicalLanding.cfm?substance_nmbr=278
• US EPA resources on arsenic in drinking water: see epa.gov/safewater/arsenic/index.html and the US EPA's private drinking water well safety website at - epa.gov/safewater/privatewells/index2.html
• US EPA, ARSENIC AND CLARIFICATIONS TO COMPLIANCE AND NEW SOURCE MONITORING RULE: A QUICK REFERENCE GUID, EPA 816-F-01-004, January 2001, US Environmental Protection Agency, web search 09/17/2010, original source: http://water.epa.gov/drink/info/arsenic/upload/2005_11_10_arsenic_quickguide.pdf
• US NIH, Arsenic, (inorganic compounds, as AS) [PDF] National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), (May 1994).
  
  IMMEDIATELY DANGEROUS TO LIFE OR HEALTH CONCENTRATIONS OF ARSENIC: PELS (Permissible Exposure Limits) (IDLHs) document that includes acute toxicity data for arsenic.National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), (May 1994). Provides an Immediately Dangerous to Life or Health Concentrations (IDLHs) document that includes acute toxicity data for arsenic.
  
  Retrievd 2019/02/23 original source: https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/idlh/7440382.html
• US NLM, TOXNET for Arsenic Compounds. The National Library of Medicine (NLM). This record contains general information for arsenic ions (+3 and +5) and inorganic and organic arsenic compounds, including statements in the literature referenced to arsenic compounds and arsenic salts. National Library of Medicine
  - https://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/search/a?dbs+hsdb:@term+@DOCNO+6994
• WALLPAPER ARSENIC + MOLD POISONING from green-pigmented wallpaper using arsenic green in our index to mold-related illnesses
• WATER CONTAMINANT LEVELS & LIMITS - sets a limit on Arsenic in drinking water of 0.05 mg/L (micrograms per liter)
• WATER QUALITY & QUANTITY San Miguel de Allende - Calidad y cantidad de agua en San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato
• WHO, IARC, also US NIH NCBI ARSENIC, METALS, FIBRES, AND DUSTS, [PDF] (2012) Volume 100C A Review of Human Carcinogens, IARC monographs on the evaluationn of carcinogenic risks to humans, International Agency for Research on Cancer, Lyon, France, US NIH NCBI retrieved 2019/02/23, original source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK304380/
  
  Excerpts:
  Arsenic and arsenic compounds have been produced and used commercially for centuries. Current and historical uses of arsenic include pharmaceuticals, wood preservatives, agricultural chemicals, and applications in the mining, metallurgical, glass-making, and semiconductor industries.
  
  Arsenic was used in some medicinal applications until the 1970s. Inorganic arsenic was used in the treatment of leukaemia, psoriasis, and chronic bronchial asthma, and organic arsenic was used in antibiotics for the treatment of spirochetal and protozoal disease (ATSDR, 2007).
  
  Inorganic arsenic is an active component of chromated copper arsenate, an antifungal wood preservative used to make “pressure-treated” wood for outdoor applications.
  
  Chromated copper arsenate is no longer used in residential applications, following a voluntary ban on its use in Canada and the United States of America at the end of 2003.
  
  In the agricultural industry, arsenic has historically been used in a range of applications, including pesticides, herbicides, insecticides, cotton desiccants, defoliants, and soil sterilants. Inorganic arsenic pesticides have not been used for agricultural purposes in the USA since 1993.
  
  Organic forms of arsenic were constituents of some agricultural pesticides in the USA. However, in 2009, the US Environmental Protection Agency issued a cancellation order to eliminate and phase out the use of organic arsenical pesticides by 2013 (EPA, 2009).
  
  The one exception to the order is monosodium methanearsonate (MSMA), a broadleaf weed herbicide, which will continue to be approved for use on cotton ...
  
• Winters, Nancy L., Kyle Graunke, , ROOFING MATERIALS ASSESSMENT, INVESTIGATION of TOXIC CHEMICALS in ROOF RUNOFF [PDF], (2014), Washington State Department of Ecology, Pub. No. 14-03-003, Environmental Assessment Program P.O. Box 47600, Olympia, WA 98504-7600 Phone: (360) 407-6764 Washington State Department of Ecology - www.ecy.wa.gov
  
  Excerpt: From February through April 2013, the Washington State Department of Ecology collected runoff from 18 constructed roofing panels following 10 rain events for contaminant analysis. Analysis of the runoff included total and dissolved metals (arsenic, cadmium, copper, lead, and zinc) and organic compounds [polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), phthalates, and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs)].
  
  Ecology identified significantly higher concentrations of three metals in runoff from several roofing panels when compared to the glass control panels.
  
  Most notably, concentrations of total arsenic, copper, and zinc were significantly higher in the following roofing panels than in the glass control panels: treated cedar shakes (arsenic and copper), copper (copper), Zincalume® (zinc), and EPDM (zinc).
  
  Arsenic levels in runoff from the treated wood shake panel ranged from 692 to 4,690 ug/L, and copper levels ranged from 601 to 3,190 ug/L.
• Zhang, W., P. Singh, E. Paling, and S. Delides. "Arsenic removal from contaminated water by natural iron ores." Minerals engineering 17, no. 4 (2004): 517-524.
  Harvard
  
  Natural iron ores were tested as adsorbents for the removal of arsenic from contaminated water. Investigated parameters included pH, adsorbent dose, contact time, arsenic concentration and presence of interfering species. Iron ore containing mostly hematite was found to be very effective for arsenic adsorption.
  
  As(V) was lowered from 1 mg/L to below 0.01 mg/L (US standard limit for drinking water) in the optimum pH range 4.5–6.5 by using a 5 g/L adsorbent dose. The experimental data fitted the first-order rate expression and Langmuir isotherm model. The adsorption capacity was estimated to be 0.4 mg As(V)/g adsorbent. The presence of silicate and phosphate had significant negative effects on arsenic adsorption, while sulphate and chloride slightly enhanced.
  
  The negative effect of silicate could be minimised by operating at a pH around 5. The interference of phosphate would necessitate the use of a relatively high dose of the adsorbent to achieve arsenic levels conforming to drinking water standards. The mechanisms of interference of silicate and phosphate on As(V) adsorption are also discussed.
• Zhu, Huijie, Yongfeng Jia, Xing Wu, and He Wang. "Removal of arsenic from water by supported nano zero-valent iron on activated carbon." Journal of Hazardous Materials 172, no. 2 (2009): 1591-1596.
• Additional scholarly research articles on arsenic contaminants in and around building s are found at
  
  References or Citations below.

...

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