The arsenic eaters of Styria, the toxicophagi

Abstract

Introduction

From at least the fifteenth to late nineteenth centuries, peasants in the Austrian province of Styria ate up to several hundred milligrams of arsenic trioxide or sulfide daily or weekly for periods up to a number of years. Taking these doses of arsenic was believed to increase muscular power and enhance the beauty and sexual attractiveness of peasant girls. There do not appear to be contemporaneous records of the known consequences of chronic arsenic exposure. The historical records of arsenic eating there are reviewed and appear to be valid. The benefits are subjective judgements by arsenic eaters. The lack of objective reports of the anticipated external and internal clinical and pathological effects of arsenic poisoning depends on a smaller number of clinical accounts and autopsy reports and the general medical literature of those times, so it is weaker, but it is consistent.

Can the claimed benefits of arsenic eating and the apparent absence of harmful toxic effects be true?

Why the arsenic eaters did not show the well-known consequences of prolonged exposure to high doses of arsenic is not known. Possible explanations include increases in detoxifying metabolism in the consumers due to induced genomic changes and selection in people and in the gut microbiome, as shown in other populations. Whether these effects would suffice to protect people against their high doses of arsenic has not been explored.

Conclusion

Although the nature and mechanisms of arsenic toxicity have been extensively described, much still remains to be discovered.

Keywords:

• arsenic
• toxicity
• chronic exposure
• Styria
• population genetics
• microbiome
• detoxifying metabolism

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The authors reported there was no funding associated with the work featured in this article.