SCIENTIFIC PROGRAMME

The programme for the congress is arranged in two series of parallel sessions.

    Session A will cover topics
      I: Arsenic in Rocks, Soils, Groundwater and Air
      V: Arsenic Remediation.
    Session B will deal with topics
      II: Human Exposure: Sources, Intakes and Bioavailability
      III: Arsenic Metabolism, Biomarkers and Mode of Action
      IV: Environmental Health Effects and Risk Assessment
      VI: Assessment of Social and Economic Impacts
      VII: Marine and Terrestrial Biota








SESSION B


Wednesday May 21

08.30-9.30 REGISTRATION

09.30-10.30 OPENNING OF CONGRESS

 WELCOME ADDRESS

OPENING OF As2008
Invited lecture: Some Sociochemistry of Arsenic. William R. Cullen

10.30-11.00 Coffee break

11.10-13.00 SESSION 1B: Terrestrial and marine biota
Chair: Prof. Kevin Francesconi

11.10-11:30 
 Oral communication: Arsenic cycling in marine organisms. William Maher

11.30-11.50 
 Oral communication: Behavior of arsenic in freshwater ecosystems. Shinichi Miyashita

11.50-12.10 
 Oral comunication: Relationship of bioaccessibility and bioavailability to arsenic chemical form downstream of a Fijian gold mine. Barry Noller

12.10-12.30 
 Oral comunication: The role of arsenic resistant earthworms in a multidisciplinary approach towards understanding risk at a former mine in Devon, UK. Mark Button

12.30-13.00 
 Invited lecture: The mechanisms of arsenic toxicity in Arabidopsis thaliana: Evidence from glutaredoxine and arsenate reductase deficient mutants. Henk Schat

13.00-14.00 POSTER SESSION 1B (Topics: Terrestrial and marine biota. The transference to the food chain)

14.00-16.00 Lunch time

16.00-17.30 SESSION 2B: Human exposure: Different sources of exposure
Chair: Prof. William R. Cullen

16.00-16.30  
 Invited lecture: Arsenolipids in fish oils: Newly discovered structures and toxicological implications. Kevin Francesconi

16.30-16.50  
 Oral Communication: Food as a source of arsenic: Intake and bioavailability. Rosa Montoro Martínez

16.50-17.10  
 Oral communication: Arsenic speciation in seafood by IEC-ICP-MS: Risk assessment contribution by estimating its bio-accessibility and exposure. Vincent Dufailly

17.10-17.30  
 Oral communication: Environmental pollution caused by phenylarsenic compounds related to chemical warfare agents. Toshikazu Kaise

17.30-18.00 Coffee break

18.00-19.40 SESSION 3B: Human exposure: Social and economic impacts
Chair: Prof. Judy Mumford

18.00-18.30 
 Invited lecture: Novel approaches to understanding and prevention of health effects of arsenic: Lessons learnt from Bangladesh. Habibul Ahsan

18.40-19.00 
 Oral communication: Facing the problem of contamination with arsenic in Latin America: Diagnosis, impact, and mitigation. María Luisa Esparza

19.00-19.20 
 Oral communication: Respondents' perception and social implication of arsenicosis and mitigation technology adaptation for arsenic free water in Bangladesh. Mizanur Rahman Sarker

19.20-19.40 
 Oral communication: Determining risks to background arsenic using a margin of exposure approach. Ari S. Lewis
19.40-20.00 Round Table 1B: Does scientific research produce real results for affected populations?
Chair: Prof. Habibul Ahsan & Prof. Kevin Francesconi

20:00 Welcome Reception


Thursday, May 22

9.20-10.30 SESSION 4B: Mechanisms and effects of As metabolism I
Chair: Prof. Zoltan Gregus

9.20-9.50 
 Invited lecture: Metabolism of Arsenic in Human Liver. Miroslav Styblo

9.50-10.10 
 Oral communication: Cellular uptake, subcellular distribution and toxicity of arsenic compounds. Elke Dopp

10.10-10.30 
 Oral communication: Direct speciation analysis of arsenic in subcellular compartments using micro-X-ray absorption spectroscopy. Richard Ortega


10.30-11.00 Coffee break

11.00-12.50 SESSION 5B: Mechanisms and effects of As metabolism II
Chair: Prof. Miroslav Styblo

11.00-11.30 
 Invited lecture: Arsenic exposure and metabolism in utero and early childhood. Marie Vahter

11.30-11.50 
 Oral communication: Analysis of arsenicals and their sulfur analogs using HPLC with collision cell ICP-MS and ESI-MS/MS. Kevin Kubachka

11.50-12.10 
 Oral communication: Exposure to monomethylarsonous acid (MMAIII) leads to altered selenoprotein synthesis in a primary human lung cell model. William Self

12.10-12.30 
 Oral communication: Arsenic metabolism is influenced by polymorphisms in genes involved in one-carbon metabolism and reduction reactions - Further evidence from Argentina. Karin Schläwicke Engström

12.30-12.50 
 Oral communication: Role of the AS3MT Met287Thr polymorphism on the urinary arsenic profile. Alba Hernández

12.50-14.00. POSTER SESSION 2B (Topics: Human exposure )

14.00-16.00 Lunch time

16.00-17.30 SESSION 6B: Biomarkers of chronic arsenic poisoning (I)
Chair: Prof. Marie Vahter

16.00-16.30 
 Invited lecture: Biomarkers for exposure, effect and susceptibility of chronic arsenic poisoning. Chien-Jen Chen

16.30-16.50 
 Oral communication: Genetic susceptibility of arsenic-induced internal cancers: A 17-year follow-up study in southwestern Taiwan. Ling-I Hsu

16.50-17.10 
 Oral communication: Genetic polymorphisms of arsenic methylation enzymes and skin cancer risk in Southwestern Taiwan. Yu-Ping Chen

17.10-17.30 
 Oral Communication: Arsenic (+3 oxidation state) methyltransferase (AS3MT) polymorphism as a marker of susceptibility to chronic toxicity of arsenic. Luz María Del Razo

17.30-18.00 Coffee break

18.00-19.00 SESSION 7B: Biomarkers of chronic arsenic poisoning (II)
Chair: Prof. Luz María Del Razo

18.00-18.20 
 Oral communication: Characterizing arsenic exposure of child populations in Northern Argentina. Marta Calatayud

18.20-18.40 
 Oral communication: Arsenic and selenium concentration in hair from ten geographic regions of Bangladesh. Selim Ahmed

18.40-19.00 
 Oral communication: Total urine arsenic and arsenic species in American Indian communities over a 10-year period - The strong heart study. Ana Navas-Acien
19.00-19.30 Round Table 2B: What determines the individual susceptibility to chronic arsenic toxicity?
Chairs: Prof. Miroslav Styblo & Prof. Zoltan Gregus

19:30 Historical Tour


 Friday, May 23

9.00-10.30 SESSION 8B: Human health effects (I)
Chair: Prof. Ricard Marcos

9.00-9:30 
 Invited lecture: Mechanisms of transplacental arsenic carcinogenesis. Michael P. Walkees

9.30-9.50 
 Oral communication: Arsenite suppresses Notch1 signalling in human keratinocytes. Robert Rice

9.50-10.10 
 Oral communication: Carcinogenicity induced in C57Bl/6J mice by exposure to monomethylarsonous acid (MMAIII) in drinking water. Jack Ng

10.10-10.30 
 Oral communication: Chromosomal changes associated with malignant transformation of prostate epithelial cells induced by arsenic. Keshav Singh

10.30-11.00 Coffee break

11.00-13.00 SESSION 9B: Human health effects (II)
Chair: Prof. Chien-Jen Chen

11.00-11.20 
 Oral communication: Arsenic interferes with T Cell Activation by altering Lck and Fyn phosphorylation. Libia Vega

11.20-11.40 
 Oral communication: Non-malignant respiratory effects of chronic arsenic exposure from drinking water. Faruque Parvez

11.40-12.00 
 Oral communication: Vascular dysfunctions and platelet activations by arsenic: Two major contributing factors to cardiovascular disease. Jin-Ho Chung

12.00-12.20 
 Oral communication: The synergistic effect of polymorphisms on Paraoxonase gene cluster and arsenic exposure on electrocardiogram abnormality. Ya-Tang Liao

12.20-12.40 
 Oral communication: Association between arsenic exposure from drinking water and proteinuria. Yu Chen

12.45-14.00 POSTER SESSION 3B (Topics: Metabolism, biomarkers and health effects)

14.00-16.00 Lunch time

16.00-17.30 SESSION 10B: Human health effects (III)
Chair: Prof. Michael P. Waalkes

16.00-16.30 
 Invited lecture: Environmental arsenic and diabetes mellitus. Miroslav Styblo

16.30-16.50 
 Oral communication: Arsenic exposure and health effects in Inner Mongolia - studies on cardiac, diabetic and cancer- related effects. Judy Mumford

16.50-17.10 
 Oral communication: Association between carotid atherosclerosis and polymorphisms of apolipoprotein E, monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 and glutathione S-transferase P1, O1 and O2 among residents in the arsenic-endemic areas. Hung-Yi Chiou

17.10-17.30 
 Oral communication: Interaction of glutathione s-transferase omega 1 and arsenic on insulin resistant syndrome in arseniasis endemic area of Southwestern Taiwan. Jein-Wen Chen

17.30-18.00 Coffee break

18.00-19.20 SESSION 11B: Human health effects (IV)
Chair: Prof. Habibul Ahsan

18.00-18.20 
 Oral communication: Toxic effects of arsenic on human erythrocytes. Mario Suwalsky

18.20-18.40 
 Oral communication: Modulation of arsenic induced genotoxicity by curcumin in human lymphocytes. Rathin K. Bhattacharya

18.40-19.00 
 Oral communication: Chronic low-level arsenic exposure causes alterations in locomotor activity of mice. Verónica Rodríguez

19.00-19.20 
 Oral communication: Mortality among residents exposed to arsenic in drinking water in Inner Mongolia, China. Xioajuan Guo
19.20-20.00 Round Table 3B: Do trasplacental and early life exposures play a significant role in adverse effects among residents of arsenicosis endemic areas?
Chairs: Prof. Marie Vahter & Prof. Chien-Jen Chen

20.00 Closing Ceremony