Arsenic may be released into the environment through industrial processes and through the
generation of power from coal. It is also widely used in agriculture and was formerly used
extensively in medicine. For the general population, exposure to arsenic occurs mainly
through the ingestion of foodstuffs containing inorganic and organic arsenicals. Trivalent
arsenicals are regarded as being primarily sulfhydryl reagents with the result they inhibit a
number of thiol-dependent enzymic systems in various tissues. Arsenite also has an effect …