# Health Effects and Geochemistry of Arsenic

> **NIH NIH P42** · COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES · 2020 · $10,800

## Abstract

Overall - Project Summary/Abstract: The contamination of water and aquifer sediments with arsenic (As) is
associated with major public health and environmental mitigation issues in the United States. At present, 823
of 1739 U.S. Superfund sites list As as a major contaminant; in addition millions of U.S. residents are unduly
exposed due to naturally occurring As in their household well water. This proposal includes two biomedical
and two geoscience projects that seek to address critically important issues that collectively aim to reduce As
exposure and toxicity in exposed human populations in the U.S. and in Bangladesh, where much information
can be learned that will benefit residents of the U.S. and elsewhere. The proposal builds on the strengths of
our existing longitudinal cohort study of 35,000 adults in Bangladesh by examining dose-response
relationships between As exposure (in the low-mid range) from contaminated food and water with incident
cases (and sub-types) of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and non-malignant lung disease, as well as diabetes
mellitus (DM). In addition, we will combine and meta-analyze data from Bangladesh, Taiwan, China (Inner
Mongolia) and the U.S. (AZ, CO, ND, OK, SD) to refine the dose-response relationships between As exposure
and CVD. We build off our previous observations that: a) As exposure is associated with deficits in child
intelligence; and b) that folate, a B vitamin, facilitates As metabolism and elimination in adults. We propose to
conduct a randomized clinical trial in 8-10 year old children in Bangladesh to test the hypothesis that folate+B12
supplementation can: a) lower blood As; and b) improve cognitive abilities in children.
 Building on our previous geoscience research which indicates that in situ magnetite formation forms a
diffuse barrier capable of long-term As retention, we propose to conduct laboratory and field research to
optimize and implement this new approach at a U.S. Geological Survey research site on Cape Cod, MA and a
Superfund site in Raleigh, NC. In Bangladesh, we will quantify the geographic and socio-political barriers to
reducing As exposure by analyzing the vast data sets accumulated in our main study area and we will conduct
a randomized controlled trial comparing ways to overcome some of them. In parallel, we will continue to
examine the potential vulnerability to human perturbations of shallow and deep aquifers that are low in As.
These low As aquifers are crucial for reducing exposure to our study population and the country at large.
 In the U.S., we will build on our proven success of partnering with state and local governments to
reduce As exposure in communities that rely on As-contaminated household wells in ME, NJ and MN. We will
also continue to facilitate effective communication among our SRP scientists, stakeholders and government
partners via five specific strategies. Finally, we will continue to train the next generation of scientists with
disciplinary and inter-di...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10203196
- **Project number:** 3P42ES010349-18S3
- **Recipient organization:** COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES
- **Principal Investigator:** Ana Navas-Acien
- **Activity code:** P42 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $10,800
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2000-06-01 → 2022-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10203196

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10203196, Health Effects and Geochemistry of Arsenic (3P42ES010349-18S3). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10203196. Licensed CC0.

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