Arsenic commonly found in ground water may increase the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, said Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health researchers.
People with diabetes had higher levels of inorganic arsenic in their urine compared with people without diabetes, according to the study in the Journal of the American Medical Association’s Aug. 20 issue.
“The findings suggest inorganic arsenic could play a role at low or moderate levels of exposure,” said Dr. Ana Navas-Acien, lead author and assistant professor in the school’s Department of Environmental Health Sciences.
“Most of us are exposed to low or moderate levels.”
At high levels in drinking water, inorganic arsenic has been shown to impair insulin, which allows glucose to enter a cell, or cause inflammation or oxidation, which could cause diabetes, Navas-Acien said.
Found naturally in rocks and soil, inorganic arsenic is in contaminated drinking water.
