Toxicity Profile for Calcium arsenates (1991)

Abstract

In man, calcium arsenate has caused local skin reactions. Repeated occupational exposure to inorganic arsenic pesticides (including calcium arsenate) or oral intake of soy sauce contaminated with arsenic (thought to be calcium arsenate), affected the liver, gastro-intestinal tract, nerves, blood and electrical activity of the heart. Calcium arsenate was of moderate to high acute oral toxicity in laboratory animals and of low acute dermal toxicity in rats. Repeated oral administration to rats caused effects on the kidneys. Malignancies of the lymphatic and blood systems and respiratory tract cancers occurred in workers involved in the production of inorganic arsenic pesticides (including calcium arsenate) and skin cancers were seen in populations ingesting drinking water contaminated with undefined arsenic compounds. In hamsters and rats, single or multiple instillations into the windpipe have induced lung tumours.