How exactly can arsenic cause death?

The potentially lethal poison is not always easy to identify.

 

Arsenic gained notoriety many years ago as a nearly odourless and tasteless poison frequently used by and against European ruling classes during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. This practice contributed to arsenic's rise to notoriety.

 

However, what is the background of arsenic poisoning, and how does it result in death?

 

It was discovered that one of the components necessary for life is also one of the factors contributing to the toxicity of arsenic.

 

Can you tell me about the background of arsenic poisoning?

 

According to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), arsenic is an element found in naturally occurring occurrences and is widely dispersed throughout the earth's crust. Arsenic, in its pure form, is a steel-grey, brittle solid. However, it is almost always combined with other elements such as oxygen, chlorine, sulfur, carbon, and hydrogen when it is found in nature. This results in powder typically white or colourless and not having a distinct smell or taste. Consequently, it is usually impossible to determine whether or not arsenic is present in food, water, or air.

 

According to a study conducted in 2011 and published in the journal Toxicological Sciences, arsenic has a long history of being referred to as both the "king of poisons" and the "poison of kings." Its toxic power and popularity among rulers who wanted to eliminate their rivals quietly contributed to these nicknames.

 

There is no shortage of tales that detail how arsenic was used to kill people. For instance, in the book "The Arsenic Century" (published by Oxford University Press in 2010), biomedical historian James C. Whorton recounts the legend of the Roman emperor Nero getting rid of his 13-year-old stepbrother and potential rival Britannicus by slipping arsenic into his soup. Nero's power was said to have been a potential threat.

 

According to the article published by Toxicological Sciences, influential and affluent Italian families such as the Medici and the Borgia were also supposed to have used arsenic to kill their rivals to maintain their power and fortune. According to Britannica, before the invention of scientific procedures to identify arsenic poisoning in the 18th century, it was standard practice to employ arsenic as a means of murder. These chemical methods involve searching for the element in hair, urine, or nails.

 

At this point, accidental poisoning by arsenic is far more common than intentional poisoning. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the most common way for people to be exposed to arsenic is through water that contains dissolved minerals that naturally contain high levels of arsenic. Other ways that someone could unintentionally be exposed to arsenic include coming into contact with contaminated soil or dust, consuming wood treated with arsenic compounds for preservation, or consuming specific foods like rice and certain fruit juices. (According to the FDA, rice absorbs an unusual amount of arsenic from the soil in comparison to other crops; the agency also notes that arsenic may make its way into an apple and other juices due to naturally high levels of arsenic in soil and water, as well as the use of arsenic-based pesticides in the United States in the past and the use of such pesticides in other countries at present.)

 

Why is arsenic so dangerous to humans?

 

On the periodic table of elements, arsenic is located close to phosphorus, which accounts for its high level of toxicity. Arsenic and phosphorus share a similar atomic structure, contributing to their characteristics being comparable. Both of these things contain molecular keys that allow access to cellular functions. According to Mark Jones, a chemistry consultant and fellow of the American Chemical Society, arsenic is disruptive and dangerous, whereas phosphorous is fundamental to life. This information was shared with Live Science.

 

Because arsenic is chemically similar to phosphorus, "arsenic may very easily swap for phosphorus in many essential chemical events in biology and disrupt them," said Jones. Because of this, arsenic can potentially be a toxin lethal to many organisms, including insects, weeds, and virtually all life forms.

 

For instance, according to the American Chemical Society, phosphorus is necessary for producing adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the primary energy source in all known species. Phosphorus helps cells manufacture ATP. Arsenic can mimic the behaviour of the phosphorus element in the chemical reactions that occur when enzymes use oxygen to help release the energy stored in glucose and trap that energy inside ATP. Because of this, arsenic can potentially interfere with the critical chemical reactions in which phosphorus plays a role.

 

According to Jones, "you can think of enzymes and the substances they work upon as being similar to locks and keys." Arsenic is comparable to a key that has been improperly cut; if it is inserted into the lock of a door, it will not only fail to unlock the door, but it also has the potential to become lodged in the safety and prevent another key from being inserted to unlock the door. "Arsenic can obstruct various crucial chemical processes in this manner."

 

Arsenic can cause damage to almost every organ in the human body because it chemically disrupts cellular "locks." According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), large doses can cause symptoms such as vomiting, diarrhoea, dehydration, shock, irregular heart rhythms, and multiple organ failure, ultimately leading to death. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), chronic exposure to high levels of arsenic in drinking water has been linked to several serious health problems, including skin disorders, an increased risk of diabetes, high blood pressure, and several forms of cancer, including lung and skin cancers.

 

According to Britannica, an individual's sensitivity to arsenic poisoning can vary greatly; some people can withstand amounts of the element that would be fatal to others. Researchers discovered in a study conducted in 2018 and published in the journal Mammalian Genome that people's genes, nutrition, and the bacteria that live in their gut may all alter their chances of surviving contact with the lethal toxin.

 

According to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, despite its deadly potential, arsenic poisoning is treatable if caught early. The antidote against arsenic-based chemical weapons that British scientists worked on developing during World War II, dimercaprol, has become an essential component in modern medicine. According to the National Library of Medicine, the action of the medication consists of a process of absorbing arsenic and rendering its toxicity harmless.

 

Although arsenic is known to be deadly, it can also help cure disease, according to the Wellcome Library in England. According to the Science History Institute in Philadelphia, a German scientist named Paul Ehrlich, who later won the Nobel Prize for his work, and his colleagues, discovered an arsenic-loaded molecule in 1909 and called it Salvarsan. This compound was the first effective therapy for syphilis. According to the Wellcome Library, the concept that underpins how Salvarsan works, in which a medicine searches for and destroys sick cells, has finally found application in the field of chemotherapy.

Article source : https://www.livescience.com/how-does-arsenic-kill

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