Common side effects include vomiting, diarrhea, swelling, shortness of breath, and headaches.[7] Severe side effects may include APL differentiation syndrome and heart problems.[7] Use during pregnancy or breastfeeding may harm the baby.[8][9] Its mechanism in treating cancer is not entirely clear.[7]
Arsenic trioxide is indicated in combination with tretinoin for treatment of adults with newly-diagnosed low-risk acute promyelocytic leukemia whose acute promyelocytic leukemia is characterized by the presence of the t(15;17) translocation or PML/RAR-alpha gene expression; and for induction of remission and consolidation in patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia who are refractory to, or have relapsed from, retinoid and anthracycline chemotherapy, and whose acute promyelocytic leukemia is characterized by the presence of the t(15;17) translocation or PML/RAR-alpha gene expression.[2][3][13]
Arsenic trioxide is used to treat a type of cancer known as acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL).[7] It may be used both in cases that are unresponsive to other agents, such as all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) or as part of the initial treatment of newly diagnosed cases.[7] This initial treatment may include combination therapy of arsenic trioxide with all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA).[14]
Industrial uses include usage as a precursor to forestry products, in colorless glass production, and in electronics.[11] Being the main compound of arsenic, the trioxide is the precursor to elemental arsenic, arsenic alloys, and arsenidesemiconductors. Bulk arsenic-based compounds sodium arsenite and sodium cacodylate are derived from the trioxide.[citation needed]
A variety of applications exploit arsenic's toxicity, including the use of the oxide as a wood preservative. Copper arsenates, which are derived from arsenic trioxide, are used on a large scale as a wood preservative in the U.S. and Malaysia, but such materials are banned in many parts of the world. This practice remains controversial.[11] In combination with copper(II) acetate, arsenic trioxide gives the vibrant pigment known as Paris green used in paints and as a rodenticide. This application has been discontinued.[citation needed]
Arsenic trioxide is readily absorbed by the digestive system. Ingestion of as little as 0.1 grams can be fatal.[11]
Chronic arsenic poisoning is known as arsenicosis. This disorder affects workers in smelters, in populations whose drinking water contains high levels of arsenic (0.3–0.4 ppm), and in patients treated for long periods with arsenic-based pharmaceuticals. Long-term ingestion of arsenic trioxide either in drinking water or as a medical treatment can lead to skin cancer. Reproductive problems (high incidences of miscarriage, low birth weight, congenital deformations) have also been indicated in one study of women exposed to arsenic trioxide dust as employees or neighbours of a copper foundry.
Arsenic trioxide can be generated via routine processing of arsenic compounds including the oxidation (combustion) of arsenic and arsenic-containing minerals in air. Illustrative is the roasting of orpiment, a typical arsenic sulfide ore.
2 As 2S 3 + 9 O 2 → 2 As 2O 3 + 6 SO 2
Most arsenic oxide is, however, obtained as a volatile by-product of the processing of other ores. For example, arsenopyrite, a common impurity in gold- and copper-containing ores, liberates arsenic trioxide upon heating in air. The processing of such minerals has led to numerous cases of poisonings,[21] and after the mine is closed, the leftover trioxide waste will present environmental hazard (as was the case with the Giant Mine, for example). Only in China are arsenic ores intentionally mined.[11]
As 2O 3 occurs naturally as two minerals, arsenolite (cubic) and claudetite (monoclinic). Both are relatively rare secondary minerals found in oxidation zones of As-rich ore deposits. Sheets of As2O3 stand for part of structures of the recently discovered minerals lucabindiite, (K,NH4)As4O6(Cl,Br),[23] and its sodium-analogue torrecillasite.[24]
Properties and reactions
Arsenic trioxide is an amphoteric oxide, and its aqueous solutions are weakly acidic. Thus, it dissolves readily in alkaline solutions to give arsenites. It is less soluble in acids, although it will dissolve in hydrochloric acid.[25]
With anhydrous HF and HCl, it gives AsF3 and the trichloride:[22]
In the liquid and gas phase below 800 °C, arsenic trioxide has the formula As 4O 6 and is isostructural with P 4O 6. Above 800 °C As 4O 6 significantly dissociates into molecular As 2O 3, which adopts the same structure as N 2O 3. Three forms (polymorphs) are known in the solid state: a high temperature ( > 110 °C) cubic As 4O 6, containing molecular As 4O 6, and two related polymeric forms.[26] The polymers, which both crystallize as monoclinic crystals, feature sheets of pyramidal AsO 3 units that share O atoms.[27]
arsenolite (cubic)
claudetite I (monoclinic)
claudetite II (monoclinic)
Society and culture
Environmental effects
Smelting and related ore processing often generate arsenic trioxide, which poses a risk to the environment. For example, the Giant Mine in Canada processed substantial amounts of arsenopyrite-contaminated gold ores.
Arsenic poisoning in literature and society
The poisonous properties of arsenic are the subject of an extensive literature.[28][29][30]
In Austria, there lived the so-called "arsenic eaters of Styria", who ingested doses far beyond the lethal dose of arsenic trioxide without any apparent harm. Arsenic is thought to enable strenuous work at high altitudes, e.g. in the Alps.[31][32][33][34]
^World Health Organization (2023). The selection and use of essential medicines 2023: web annex A: World Health Organization model list of essential medicines: 23rd list (2023). Geneva: World Health Organization. hdl:10665/371090. WHO/MHP/HPS/EML/2023.02.
^Holleman AF, Wiberg E (2001). Inorganic Chemistry. San Diego: Academic Press. ISBN0-12-352651-5.
^"Stanton v Benzler 9716830". U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. 17 June 1998. Retrieved 9 June 2008. (...) convicted by a jury of first degree murder for poisoning her ex-husband. Her ex-husband's body was found with traces of arsenic trioxide in it.
^Allesch RM (1959). Arsenik. Seine Geschichte in Österreich. Archiv für vaterländische Geschichte und Topographie. Vol. 54. Klagenfurt: Kleinmayr.
^Przygoda G, Feldmann J, Cullen WR (2001). "The arsenic eaters of Styria: a different picture of people who were chronically exposed to arsenic". Applied Organometallic Chemistry. 15 (6): 457–462. doi:10.1002/aoc.126.