Association between arsenic exposure and plasma cholinesterase activity: a population based study in Bangladesh

Table 1 General characteristics of the study subjects based on water arsenic

Characteristics	All Subjects	Low (< 129 μg/L)	Medium (130 - 264 μg/L)	High (> 265 μg/L)
No. of subject	141	44	50	47
Sex [no. (male/female)]	89/52	32/12	32/18	25/22
Age [years (Mean ± SD)]	37.66 ± 12.51	39.34 ± 13.71	35.22 ± 10.93	38.43 ± 12.90
Water arsenic concentration [μg/L (Mean ± SD)]	224.92 ± 57.20	32.13 ± 43.55	215.82 ± 36.96	426.80 ± 91.10
Water consumption (L/day)	2.30 ± 1.09	1.71 ± 1.01	2.54 ± 1.13	2.65 ± 1.15
Years of arsenic exposure (Mean ± SD)	14.10 ± 3.27	16.00 ± 3.10	13.20 ± 3.20	13.10 ± 3.50
Occupation
Female	90.70	87.34	90.21	94.54
Housewives (%)	9.30	12.66	9.79	5.46
Others (%) [Farmworkers, tailors etc.]
Male
Farmers (%)	85.54	85.26	87.45	83.91
Others (%) [Venders, rickshaw pullers etc.]	14.46	14.74	12.55	16.09
(+) symptomps [% (Melanosis and hyperkeratosis)]	69.52	61.37	60	87.2
(-) symptomps (%)	30.48	38.63	40	12.8
BMI*	20.44 ± 3.22	20.89 ± 3.24	20.32 ± 3.08	20.11 ± 3.35

BMI* was calculated as body weight (kg) divided by square body height (m²)
Frequency test is used to divide the study subjects into three groups of equal proportion based on water arsenic concentration

ISSN: 1476-069X