Long-term exposure to high levels of
arsenic has been documented to induce skin and liver damage, affecting hundreds of millions of people. While
arsenic-induced skin and liver damage and
trace element alterations have been studied, their correlations and risks have not been explained. Based on the above premise, this study included a total of 172 subjects from a
coal-burning
arsenic poisoning area. The levels of 18
trace elements in hair and six liver function indices in serum were detected, and the associations between and risks of
trace elements related to skin and liver damage were analyzed. Finally, the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and areas under the curve (AUC) were used to analyze the diagnostic values of certain
trace elements for
arsenic-induced skin and liver damage. The results found that a decrease in Se was a risk factor for
arsenic-induced skin and liver damage (OR = 8.33 and 1.92, respectively). Furthermore, increases in Al and V were risk factors for
arsenic-induced skin damage (OR = 1.05) and liver damage (OR = 13.16), respectively. In addition, the results found that Se and Al possessed certain diagnostic values for
arsenic-induced skin damage (AUC = 0.93, 0.80), that Se possessed a diagnostic value for liver damage (AUC = 0.93), and that the combination of Se and Al increased the diagnostic value for skin damage (AUC = 0.96). This study provides an important research basis for further understanding the reasons for
arsenic-induced skin and liver damage, for screening and identifying candidate diagnostic
biomarkers, and for improving prevention and control strategies for arsenism.