How absorbable is arsenic (in water) through the skin?

[buffalo]

Hi everyone. 

Possibly moving to an area that has higher than I would like levels of arsenic in the water supply. I plan on drinking bottled water either way but I am concerned about showering, washing dishes, washing hands, etc. I would be living in an apartment so a whole house filter (reverse osmosis, etc) is not an option.

Is arsenic absorbed through the skin? I have seen mixed science on this and I am really confused. 

If it is absorbed, are there are any studies or information on how much is absorbed and how it could effect human health?

I appreciate any help

[StringJunky]

It seems up to 500ppb is safe.

[exchemist]

15 hours ago, buffalo said:

Hi everyone. 

Possibly moving to an area that has higher than I would like levels of arsenic in the water supply. I plan on drinking bottled water either way but I am concerned about showering, washing dishes, washing hands, etc. I would be living in an apartment so a whole house filter (reverse osmosis, etc) is not an option.

Is arsenic absorbed through the skin? I have seen mixed science on this and I am really confused. 

If it is absorbed, are there are any studies or information on how much is absorbed and how it could effect human health?

I appreciate any help

From what I can see the main risk is via ingestion. If you live in the developed world, I doubt any approved water supply would have enough that taking showers or baths would be likely to do you any harm, and the amount left behind on dry dishes would be pretty minimal I should have thought.

But what level of As are you talking about? 

[buffalo]

Thanks for the replies.

Are there any known studies into this? I see some city municipalities claiming the 500ppb for showering but I have not been able to find any science or studies or information backing that number up. 

The drinking water in the area I'm looking has 5-10ppb

From what I can see, no level of arsenic in drinking water is safe (even though 5-10 does fall under the safety numbers I believe)

Quote

 

 

[exchemist]

1 hour ago, buffalo said:

Thanks for the replies.

Are there any known studies into this? I see some city municipalities claiming the 500ppb for showering but I have not been able to find any science or studies or information backing that number up. 

The drinking water in the area I'm looking has 5-10ppb

From what I can see, no level of arsenic in drinking water is safe (even though 5-10 does fall under the safety numbers I believe)

 

Yes in the USA (and the EU) it seems 10ppb is the current maximun for drinking water: https://www.epa.gov/dwreginfo/drinking-water-arsenic-rule-history 

One of the problems in modern life is that our ability to detect chemical species is now so great that we can scare ourselves by finding trace levels of all sorts of things everywhere. Even if there is "no safe level", that does not mean you run a significant risk at very low levels. It just means nobody has found a level at which they can confidently claim there is zero risk. Life is not risk-free. By the way, if you drink bottled water you may still find it has arsenic: https://southernscientificireland.com/arsenic-in-bottled-water/

But I confess I do not much like the sound of 500ppb. Anything over 50ppb would seem to be a bad idea.

 

    

[buffalo]

2 hours ago, exchemist said:

Yes in the USA (and the EU) it seems 10ppb is the current maximun for drinking water: https://www.epa.gov/dwreginfo/drinking-water-arsenic-rule-history 

One of the problems in modern life is that our ability to detect chemical species is now so great that we can scare ourselves by finding trace levels of all sorts of things everywhere. Even if there is "no safe level", that does not mean you run a significant risk at very low levels. It just means nobody has found a level at which they can confidently claim there is zero risk. Life is not risk-free. By the way, if you drink bottled water you may still find it has arsenic: https://southernscientificireland.com/arsenic-in-bottled-water/

But I confess I do not much like the sound of 500ppb. Anything over 50ppb would seem to be a bad idea.

 

    

Thanks for the input. That definitely makes sense!

Looks like that article you sent is referencing wells in Europe. I would be in the US. All bottled water companies I've looked into list all of the levels of substances in the water and all that I have looked at have no measurable amount of arsenic. 

[StringJunky]

3 hours ago, exchemist said:

Yes in the USA (and the EU) it seems 10ppb is the current maximun for drinking water: https://www.epa.gov/dwreginfo/drinking-water-arsenic-rule-history 

One of the problems in modern life is that our ability to detect chemical species is now so great that we can scare ourselves by finding trace levels of all sorts of things everywhere. Even if there is "no safe level", that does not mean you run a significant risk at very low levels. It just means nobody has found a level at which they can confidently claim there is zero risk. Life is not risk-free. By the way, if you drink bottled water you may still find it has arsenic: https://southernscientificireland.com/arsenic-in-bottled-water/

But I confess I do not much like the sound of 500ppb. Anything over 50ppb would seem to be a bad idea.

 

    

That figure was for  bathing/showering water and transdermal absorption risk, as per OP.  The OP's water is 1-2% of that figure, so it should be pretty safe for that use.

Edited December 21, 2021 by StringJunky