ABSTRACT
Estimates suggest that more than 13 million Americans, mainly those who use well water, are exposed to toxic levels of free arsenic every day. The entire aquifer of the Indian subcontinent is also contaminated with arsenic, which explains why many Indian herbal remedies are contaminated with arsenic. Mere exposure to arsenic does not guarantee illness because the liver is capable of rapidly detoxifying free arsenic and excreting it from the body. This protective mechanism does have its limits though, and in the presence of massive amounts of arsenic, the liver’s ability to detoxify arsenic is overwhelmed.
