How people in Chile's Atacama Desert evolved to survive drinking arsenic-poisoned water
- 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.
Sources: Times of India