You are on page 1of 19

POISON

Nurul Fahira
ARSENIC
KING OF POISON
Arsenic is a metalloid - a natural element that is not actually
a metal but which has some of the properties of a metal. It is
a natural component of the Earth’s crust, generally found in
trace quantities in all rock, soil, water and air.

Arsenic can exist in many different chemical forms in


combination with other elements. Some forms are inorganic
and organic

Arsenic are produce by nature but also produce by human


History

Zosimos (circa 300 AD) describes roasting sandarach or realgar to obtain


cloud of arsenic or arsenic trioxide, which he then reduces to metallic
arsenic.

As the symptoms of arsenic poisoning were somewhat ill-defined, it was


frequently used for murder until the advent of the Marsh test, a sensitive
chemical test for its presence or another less sensitive but more general
test is the Reinsch test.

Owing to its use by the ruling class to murder one another and its potency
and discreetness, arsenic has been called the "poison of kings" and the
"king of poisons"
General Properties
Name, symbol : Arsenic, As
Appearance : Mettallic grey
: Grey (most
Allotropes common), yellow,
black
Atomic number : 33
: Group 15
Group, block (Pnictogens), p-
block
Period : Period 4
Elementary category : Metalloid
Standard atomic
weight (±)(Ar) : 74.921595
Electron configuration : [Ar] 3d10 4s2 4p3
per shell : 2, 8, 18, 5
Physical Properties

Phase : Solid
Sublimation point : 887 K
Density near r.t. : 5.727 g/cm3
when liquid, at
m.p : 5.22 g/cm3
: 1090 K, 3628
Triple point kPa
Critical point : 1673 K
: Grey, 22.44
Heat of fusion kJ/mol
Heat of
vaporization : 34.76 kJ/mol
Chemical Properties

: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, -1,
Oxidation states -2, -3 (a mildly
acidic oxide)
: Pauling scale,
Electronegativity 2.18
: 1st, 947.0
kJ/mol
: 2nd, 1798
Ionization energi
kJ/mol
: 3rd, 2735
kJ/mol
: Empirical, 119
VOLCAN
FIREWO
IC LASER
RK
ACTION

MAN-
EARTH’S
MADE POISON
CRUST
SOURCE
INSECTICID • Contact with the compound sometimes
E ON FRUIT resulted in brain damage among those
TREES working the sprayers
• In the 1950s, a process of treating
WOOD wood with Chromated Copper Arsenate
PRESERVAT (CCA or Tanalith) was invented. This
IVE treatment was the most extensive
industrial use of arsenic
FEED
ADDITIVE IN
• In particular in the U.S. to increase
PPOULTRY
weight gain, improve feed efficiency,
AND SWINE
and to prevent disease
PRODUCTI
ON
• Arsphenamine, as well as neosalvarsan,
was indicated for syphils and
trypanosomiasis, but has been superseded
MEDICAL
by modern antibiotics. for the Also,
USE
Treatment of patients with acute
promyelocytic leukimia that is resistant to
all-trans retionic acid
• The main use of metallic arsenic is in
alloying with lead
ALLOY • Dezincification can be strongly reduced by
adding arsenic to brass, a copper-zinc
alloy
• United States built up a stockpile of 20,000
tonnes of lewisite (ClCH=CHAsCl2), a
MILITARY
chemical weapon that is a vesicant or
blister agent and lung irritant
EMITTED
ARSINES
INTO
RELEASED
ATMOSPHER
FROM
BY HIGH-
MICROBIAL
TEMPERATU
SOURCES IN
RE
SOILS
PROCESSES

HUMAN SEDIMENTS
UNDERGO
ACTIVIT OXIDATION
Y RECONVERIN IN THE AIR
G THE
ARSENIC TO
NON-
VOLATILE
FORMS,
WHICH
SETTLE
BACK TO THE
GROUND
What Happens to Arsenic Absorbed
by The Body?
In many species arsenic metabolism is characterized by two main
types of reactions: (1) reduction reactions of pentavalent to trivalent
arsenic, and (2) oxidative methylation reactions in which trivalent
forms of arsenic are sequentially methylated to form mono-, di- and
trimethylated products using S-adenosyl methionine (SAM) as the
methyl donor and glutathione (GSH) as an essential co-factor
In humans and most common laboratory animals, inorganic arsenic is
extensively methylated and the metabolites are excreted primarily in
the urine. Factors such as dose, age, gender and smoking contribute
only minimally to the large inter-individual variation in arsenic
methylation observed in humans
Levels of arsenic or its metabolites in blood, hair, nails and urine are used as
biomarkers of arsenic exposure

Arsenic is rapidly cleared from blood, and speciation of its chemical forms in blood
is difficult. Arsenic in hair and nails can be indicators of past arsenic exposure,
provided care is taken to prevent external arsenic contamination of the samples.
Arsenic in hair may also be used to estimate relative length of time since an acute
exposure. Speciated metabolites in urine expressed either as inorganic arsenic or
as the sum of metabolites

In general, inorganic arsenical are more toxic than organoarsenicals and arsenite is
more toxic than arsenate

Atomic Absorption Apectrometry (AAS), Atomic Fluorescence Spectrometry (AFS),


Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectrometry (ICP-AES), Inductively
Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) and Voltammetry, are instrumental
techniques for determination of arsenic
Marsh Test

Sample of Arsine
tissue or
body fluid Zinc
Aci gas if
arsenic
to a glass
vessel
d was
present
Breathing in high levels of arsenic may cause a sore throat
and irritated lungs

Contact with the skin can cause redness and swelling,


although it’s not known if it can cause other health
problems

It is estimated that approximately 57 million people in the


Bengal basin are drinking groundwater with arsenic
concentrations elevated above the World Health
Organization (WHO) standard of 10 parts per billion (ppb)
Nausea and
Stomachache Diarrhea
vomiting

“Pins and
Muscle
needles” Skin changes
weakness and
sensations in or rashes
cramping
hands and feet

Bruising
(caused by
blood vessel
damage)
LONG
ACUTE
TERM FATAL
EFFECT
EFFECT
PIGMENTATION
VOMITING DIE
CHANGES

ABDOMINAL
SKIN LESIONS
PAIN

HARD
DIARRHEA PATCHES ON
THE PALMS

SOLES OF THE
FEET
(HYPERKERAT
OSIS)
LIMIT RICE CHECK YOUR DRINKING
CONSUMPTION WATER

HOW TO AVOID
ARSENIC?

LIMIT FRUIT JUICE


BUY ORGANIC CHICKEN
CONSUMPTION
As of 2002, US-based industries consumed 19,600 metric tons of arsenic. Ninety
percent of this was used for treatment of wood with Chromated Copper Arsenate
(CCA). In 2007, 50% of the 5,280 metric tons of consumption was still used for this
purpose

Studies of people in parts of Southeast Asia and South America with high levels of
arsenic in their drinking water have found higher risks of cancers of the bladder
kidney, lung, skin, and, less consistently, colon, prostate, and liver

International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classifies arsenic and


inorganic arsenic compounds as “carcinogenic to humans”, based on evidence from
human studies that it can cause cancer of the lung, bladder, and skin. IARC also
notes possible links between exposure to arsenic in drinking water and cancers of
the kidney, liver, and prostate, although the evidence for these is not as strong

You might also like