Arsenicism by Chronic Exposure to Mine Tailings in Peru: An Analysis of 17 Cases with Lesions on Skin and/or Annexes

Figures & data

Figure 1 Exposure to mine tailings in sparsely populated agricultural areas in the highlands of Peru. (A) Mine tailings of Mayoc. (B) Mine tailings of El Madrigal.

Table 1 Epidemiological Characteristics of Patients with Arsenicism from Chronic Exposure to Mine Tailings

Characteristic	Frequency	%
Stage of Life
Child and adolescent (<18 years)	3	17.6
Adult (18–64 years)	11	64.8
Senior adult (≥65 years)	3	17.6
Sex
Male	13	76.4
Female	4	23.6
Occupation
Farmer	7	41.2
Student	3	17.6
Merchant	3	17.6
Driver	2	5.9
Housewife	1	5.9
Laborer	1	5.9
Exposure
Mine tailings of Mayoc	9	53.0
Mine tailings of Tamboraque	4	23.5
Mine tailings of El Madrigal	4	23.5
Time of exposure to mine tailings
0–10 years	7	41.2
11–20 years	4	23.5
21–29 years	0	0.0
≥30 years	6	35.3
Total	17	100.0

Table 2 Arsenicism Manifestations in Skin and Annexes from Chronic Exposure to Mine Tailings

Manifestation	Male	Female	Total
Keratosis	7	2	9
Keratosis + hyper/hypopigmentation	3	0	3
Mees’ Lines	1	2	3
Hyper/hypopigmentation	1	1	2
Total	12	5	17

Table 3 Epidemiological and Clinical Characteristics of Arsenicism Cases with Lesions on Skin and/or Annexes from Chronic Exposure to Mine Tailings

Characteristic	Keratosis	Keratosis + Hyper/Hypopigmentation	Mees’ Lines	Hyper/Hypopigmentation
Number of cases	9	3	3	2
Age	17–70 years	42–66 years	8–44 years	30 and 36 years
Sex predisposition	Male	No predisposition	No predisposition	No predisposition
Occupation	Farmer, student, driver, merchant, housewife	Farmer, merchant, laborer	Farmer, laborer, student	Farmer, driver
Tailings	Tamboraque, Mayoc, Madrigal	Mayoc and Madrigal	Mayoc and Tamboraque	Mayoc, Madrigal
Exposure time	6–48 years	8–30 years	6–30 years	14–30 years
Length of disease	3–26 years	4–22 years	4–6 years	6 y 11 years
Location of disease	Plantar, palmar, palmoplantar	Palmoplantar (keratosis), thorax (hyper/hypopigmentation)	Hand nails	Thorax, back, abdomen
Arsenic clearance	35–62 μg/L/24 hours	31–66 μg/L/24 hours	53–56 μg/L/24 hours	46–58 μg/L/24 hours