Anthropogenic Cycles of Arsenic in Mainland China: 1990–2010

Arsenic (As) is a trace element in
the global environment with
toxicity to both humans and ecosystem. This study characterizes China’s
historical anthropogenic arsenic cycles (AACs) from 1990 to 2010.
Key findings include the following: (1) the scale of China’s
AACs grew significantly during the studied period, making China the
biggest miner, producer, and user of arsenic today; (2) the majority
of arsenic flows into China’s anthroposphere are the impurity
of domestically mined nonferrous metal ores, which far exceeds domestic
intentional demands; (3) China has been a net exporter of arsenic
trioxide and arsenic metalloid, thus suffering from the environmental
burdens of producing arsenic products for other economies; (4) the
growth of arsenic use in China is driven by simultaneous increases
in many applications including glass making, wood preservatives, batteries,
semiconductors, and alloys, implying the challenge for regulating
arsenic uses in multiple applications/industries at the same time;
(5) the dissipative arsenic emissions resulting from intentional applications
are at the same order of magnitude as atmospheric emissions from coal
combustion, and their threats to human and ecosystem health can spread
widely and last years to decades. Our results demonstrate that the
characterization of AACs is indispensable for developing a complete
arsenic emission inventory.