• Font Size    
E-mail

Close Window E-mail This Page

Trace Arsenic In Water May Be Linked With Diabetes

Required fields are marked with an asterisk(*)

The information you provide will be used only to send the requested e-mail and will not be used to send any other e-mail communications. Read more in our Privacy Policy

Send E-mail

   Print     Share +   
Aug 19, 2008 3:28 pm US/Central

Trace Arsenic In Water May Be Linked With Diabetes

CHICAGO (AP) ― A new study suggests a possible link between low-level exposure to arsenic and Type 2 diabetes.

Previous research outside the United States has linked high levels of arsenic in drinking water with diabetes. It's the link at low levels that's new.

The analysis of the medical tests of 788 adults found a nearly fourfold increase in the risk of diabetes in people with low arsenic concentrations in their urine compared to people with even lower levels.

How arsenic could contribute to diabetes is unknown. But prior studies have found impaired insulin secretion in pancreas cells treated with an arsenic compound.

The study's limitations make more research necessary. And public water systems were on their way to meeting tougher U.S. arsenic standards as the data were collected.

The findings appear in tomorrow's Journal of the American Medical Association.

(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.