Arsenic

By John Emsley2012-09-01T00:00:00

Source: South Tyrol Museum of archaeology/www.iceman.it

John Emsley investigates the element that has harmed many, but now heals a few

It was the presence of higher than expected levels of arsenic in the remains of Ötzi, the 5000 year-old iceman found in the Italian Alps, which suggests he was a coppersmith because the smelting of this metal was often from ores rich in arsenic. We all contain some of this element, and the average person has around 7 mg of arsenic in their body and this varies according to the foods we eat. A dish of rice and prawns may provide more than 20 mg but the arsenic is present as arsenobetaine, (CH₃)₃ As⁺ CH₂ CO^2-, which poses no threat to health.

John Emsley expores arsenic: its uses in medicine and the speculation that Napoleon was taken down by the gas in his wallpaper.

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