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Review
. 2020 Oct 22;18(2):1691-1697.
doi: 10.1007/s40201-020-00570-0. eCollection 2020 Dec.

Dose-response meta-analysis of arsenic exposure in drinking water and intelligence quotient

Mahsa Hasanvand  1 , Rasool Mohammadi  2 , Nahid Khoshnamvand  1   3 , Ali Jafari  1 , Hossein Safari Palangi  4 , Yaser Mokhayeri  5
Affiliations
Review

Dose-response meta-analysis of arsenic exposure in drinking water and intelligence quotient

Mahsa Hasanvand et al. J Environ Health Sci Eng. .

Abstract

Objectives: Exposure to inorganic arsenic through drinking water is a threat for public health. Using the arsenic-containing water in the long-term causes a variety of skin diseases, high blood pressure, and skin cancer. Arsenic also damages the nervous system. A wide range of studies have studied the effect of arsenic in drinking water on the level of intelligence in children.

Methods: For the purpose of our research, we searched three electronic databases including Scopus, Web of Science, and Medline (PubMed) in English from 2000 to January 2018. We used the dose-response meta-analysis through applying random effect models in order to estimate the pooled association (with a 95% uncertainty) between water arsenic concentration and intelligence level.

Results: Using a two-stage random effect model to investigate the dose-response association between arsenic concentration and Intelligence Quotient scale, we estimated a significant linear association as -0.08 (95% CI: -0.14, -0.01). Actually, for each unit increase in arsenic concentration (one microgram per liter), intelligence quotient scale decreases by 0.08%.

Conclusions: Considering the significance of the relationship between arsenic concentration in drinking water and the level of intelligence quotient as an important factor in training, the level of arsenic and its associated risks should be decreased in water resources.

Keywords: Arsenic; Dose-response; Drinking water; Intelligence quotient.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interestThe writers remark, that they have no special financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to affection the work reported in this study.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Flow diagram of the study selection process and included publication for dose-response meta-analysis of arsenic in drinking water and IQ scale
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Pooled estimate of IQ mean difference of high-dose and control-dose (low) arsenic concentration
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Pooled estimate of IQ mean difference of medium-dose and control-dose (low) arsenic concentration
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Dose-response association between arsenic concentration and IQ scale based on the linear model; the solid line represents the fitted linear trend, and dash line represents the 95% confidence interval
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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