Leicester/Nottingham Trent - Arsenic and old toenails

Scientists from the universities of Leicester and Nottingham Trent have devised a method of identifying levels of exposure to environmental arsenic - by testing toenail clippings. The researchers used the clippings to find fresh evidence of exposure to environmental arsenic in a UK population living close to a former arsenic mine in Devon. Arsenic occurs naturally in the environment and people can be exposed to it in several ways. Long-term exposure to the substance is associated with increases in lung, liver, bladder and kidney cancers. The results have been published in the Journal of Environmental Monitoring.