Changes in hair arsenic concentration in a population exposed to heavy pollution: Follow-up investigation in Chenzhou City, Hunan Province, Southern China

Follow-up investigation on hair arsenic concentration was conducted in an arsenic heavily polluted area of southern China in 2002 and 2006. The results showed that the geometric mean of hair arsenic concentration decreased from 2.95 mg/kg in 2002 to 1.78 mg/kg in 2006, when the percentage of the population with levels over 1 mg/kg only decreased from 93.4% in 2002 to 80.5% in 2006. Over this four-year period, the population with high arsenic concentrations decreased significantly while there was no obvious change in hair arsenic concentration for people who had relatively low concentrations. In terms of age distribution, young and old people had higher hair arsenic concentrations than the middle-aged. All of these results showed that it is difficult to reverse the negative impact of arsenic pollution on human health. Arsenic pollution has a long-term continuous influence on the health of local residents.