On Mar. 3, 2025, epidemiologists at the Texas A&M University School of Public Health have identified a link between arsenic and indicators of kidney disease. Their study, which used U.S. population-level data, identified an association between higher urinary arsenic levels and elevated odds of albuminuria (the presence of a protein normally found in the blood) and hyperuricemia (elevated levels of serum uric acid in the blood).

“Previous studies have observed a positive association between arsenic exposure and kidney damage or reduced kidney function. Our study further supports this link by examining urinary arsenic levels and chronic kidney disease using large U.S. population data,” said Taehyun Roh, Ph.D., who supervised the study.

He added that this is important given that about 37 million people in the United States — about one out of seven — has chronic kidney disease, and the number is growing here and around the world. Arsenic occurs naturally in the earth’s crust and the environment, and most people’s exposure is through contaminated water. Chronic arsenic exposure is also associated with several cancers, skin diseases and cardiovascular diseases.

To identify any association between urinary arsenic levels and kidney damage, the team used a multi-marker approach with data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) on 9,057 adults from 2007 to 2018. The most recent data cycle (2019–2020) was excluded because the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the survey’s complex sample collection processes, compromising the data’s national representativeness.

The study found a 29 percent higher odds of overall kidney damage in individuals in the highest quartile of urinary arsenic compared to those in the lowest quartile. Among specific components, albuminuria and hyperuricemia were associated with 49 percent and 38 percent higher odds, respectively. Additionally, when arsenic levels in drinking water were analyzed as a continuous variable, each one-unit increase in the natural log of arsenic levels was significantly associated with these markers. The study was published in ScienceDirect.