Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 200032, Shanghai, China.
Int Arch Occup Environ Health. 2010 Apr;83(4):433-40. doi: 10.1007/s00420-009-0494-6. Epub 2009 Dec 5.
A few villages in Southwest Guizhou, China represented a unique case of arseniasis due to indoor combustion of high arsenic-content coal. The present study is aimed to analyze the contribution of possible factors or of their combination to excess prevalence of arseniasis in the exposed population.
An epidemiological investigation was conducted in all the members of three large ethnic, patrilineal clans in one of the hyperendemic villages (702 residents in 178 families, including 408 Han and 294 Hmong) where farmers of different ethnic origin have been living together in the same village for generations. A multilevel model logistic regression analysis was performed.
The arseniasis prevalence was found to associate with the duration of As indoor exposure (years of high As coal burning and of poorly ventilated traditional stove using) and is largely dependent on the subject's ethnicity and clan consanguinity, too. The prevalence of arseniasis in ethnic Han residents was significantly higher than that in their Hmong neighbors (35.0 vs 4.8% OR = 15.18, 95% CI = 3.45-67.35). Notable variances of arseniasis prevalence were observed not only between the ethnic Han clans (G1, G3, and B) and Hmong clan P, but also between different lineages (G1 and G2) inside the ethnic Han clan. Smokers suffered more frequently from arseniasis than non-smokers (47.3 vs 15.7% OR = 5.42, 95% CI = 2.25-12.93).
Arseniasis prevalence in this unique exposure case was impacted by an array of multiple factors. Besides a long-term indoor exposure to As, the ethnicity or the clan consanguinity of exposed subjects may play an important role, too.
中国贵州西南部的一些村庄由于室内燃烧高砷含量的煤，出现了一种独特的砷中毒情况。本研究旨在分析可能的因素或其组合对暴露人群中砷中毒高发的贡献。
对一个高度流行村庄（702 名居民，178 户家庭，包括 408 名汉族和 294 名苗族）的三个大型民族、父系氏族的所有成员进行了流行病学调查。该村庄的农民几代人都一直生活在一起。采用多水平模型逻辑回归分析。
发现砷中毒的患病率与室内砷暴露的时间（高砷煤燃烧和通风不良的传统炉灶使用的时间）有关，而且很大程度上还取决于个体的种族和氏族血缘关系。汉族居民的砷中毒患病率明显高于苗族邻居（35.0%比 4.8%，OR=15.18，95%CI=3.45-67.35）。不仅汉族的不同氏族（G1、G3 和 B）和苗族的 P 氏族之间，而且在汉族内部的不同家族（G1 和 G2）之间，砷中毒的患病率也存在显著差异。吸烟者比不吸烟者更频繁地患有砷中毒（47.3%比 15.7%，OR=5.42，95%CI=2.25-12.93）。
在这种独特的暴露情况下，砷中毒的患病率受到多种因素的影响。除了长期室内接触砷外，暴露人群的种族或氏族血缘关系也可能起着重要作用。
