How people in Chile's Atacama Desert evolved to survive drinking arsenic-poisoned water
Latin AmericaScienceModerate confidence — 73/100
Image: AI GeneratedFor most of human history, a water source containing high concentrations of arsenic would have been considered deadly.
Long-term exposure to the toxic metal is linked to cancers, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and neurological disorders.
Yet for thousands of years, people living in Chile's Atacama Desert have relied on groundwater containing some of the highest naturally occurring arsenic levels ever recorded.
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Image: AI GeneratedFor most of human history, a water source containing high concentrations of arsenic would have been considered deadly.
Long-term exposure to the toxic metal is linked to cancers, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and neurological disorders.
Yet for thousands of years, people living in Chile's Atacama Desert have relied on groundwater containing some of the highest naturally occurring arsenic levels ever recorded.