PORTLAND (AP) – Arsenic rarely makes headlines, as it did last spring when 16 people suffered acute poisoning, and one man died, from drinking spiked coffee at a church in northern Maine.

But the toxic chemical is slowly taking its toll on many more people in far less obvious ways. Every day, people drink water from tainted wells, and toddlers crawl on decks made from arsenic-treated planks, exposing themselves to low levels of arsenic that may lead to cancer decades later.

Researchers across New England are now investigating whether chronic, long-term arsenic exposure contributes to some of the nation’s highest mortality rates of bladder cancer. The poisonous element has been linked to bladder cancer, as well as lung and skin cancers.

In northern New England, there’s particular concern because so many people rely on private well water, much of it with naturally high arsenic levels.

In Maine, 56 percent of the population gets its drinking water from private wells. But only half of the well owners test them for arsenic, said Dr. Dora Anne Mills, director of the Maine Bureau of Health.

“It’s a very prevalent environmental health issue here in Maine, especially in drinking water,” Mills said. “Most people don’t realize how important it is for them to check their drinking water.”

At the University of Southern Maine, Dr. John Wise recently helped launch the state’s first toxicology center, which unites more than 30 researchers.

Scientists there are using mice to study arsenic’s effects on the brain and the developing immune system, and some of Wise’s own research focuses on how toxic metals, including arsenic, can turn normal cells into tumorous cells.

Andy Smith, the state’s toxicologist, is conducting a separate study on the effects of untreated bath water on children. Many homeowners who use private wells filter their water in the kitchen, Smith said, not realizing that children might still be at risk while playing in the bathtub.

And the National Cancer Institute is investigating whether environmental factors, including water quality, may contribute to New England’s elevated bladder cancer rates. The institute is collaborating with Dartmouth Medical School in a three-year study of 2,400 people in northern New England.

National Cancer Institute statistics show that New Hampshire was first in the nation in bladder cancer mortality in 2000. Rhode Island was second and Maine third. Vermont, Massachusetts and Connecticut were among the top third.

As researchers point out, there’s currently no evidence of a connection between arsenic exposure and New England’s elevated bladder cancer rates. Smoking accounts for almost half of all cases of the cancer, which hits older men the hardest. Researchers are exploring many other possible causes for the elevated rates, said Debra Silverman, who’s leading the National Cancer Institute’s study.

Still, the statistics on arsenic are sobering. Eleven percent of Maine’s private wells have arsenic levels above the state standard of 10 parts per billion, according to a random sample of about 400 wells in 2001. That means roughly 75,000 Mainers drink water with elevated arsenic levels.

Though health officials say the new research on arsenic’s health effects is long overdue, they say public education and legislation are also critical. Between 40 percent and 50 percent of Maine households with private wells say they’ve tested for the carcinogen, according to Smith, and state officials hope education efforts will increase that figure to 75 percent by 2010.

There has been strong opposition through the years to a law that would require private well owners to test for arsenic.

But this year the Legislature did approve a law that speeds up a federal ban on the sale of pressure-treated wood, the kind of wood used commonly on decks. The measure also requires state officials to come up with a disposal plan for arsenic-treated wood within two years.

“We really need to be looking at what’s the environment like,” Wise said. “Maine can be considered to have a fairly toxic environment, as far as metals are concerned.”

AP-ES-11-16-03 1315EST

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