Arsenic concentration in water and bovine milk in Cordoba, Argentina. Preliminary results

Abstract

The Chaco Pampean Plain of central Argentina constitutes one of the largest regions of high arsenic (As) groundwaters known, covering around 1r106 km2 (Smedley & Kinniburg, 2002; Farı´as et al. 2004). The high-As groundwaters are from Quaternary deposits of loess (mainly silt) with intermixed rhyolitic or dacitic volcanic ash (Nicolli et al. 1989, Smedley et al. 1998, 2002). Early in the last century an endemic disease due to contamination of drinking water with arsenic was recognised. This disease is called HACRE (Hidroarsenicismo Crónico Regional Endémico, Chronic Endemic Regional Hydroarsenism) and is connected with a particular type of skin cancer (Astolfi et al. 1981)