the association between arsenic exposure from drinking water and cerebrovascular disease mortality in taiwan background chronic arsenic exposure is associated with a variety of diseases including cancer peripheral vascular disease and diabetes however its association with cerebrovascular diseases cvd has not yet been resolved the aim of this study is to explore this association in taiwan using nationwide datamaterials and methods we analyzed mortality data in taiwan from 1971 to 2005 and choose two geographic areas with populations suffering from chronic exposure to arsenic in drinking water for study the blackfoot disease endemic area bfdea in the southwest and lanyang basin lyb in the northeast parts of taiwan the chiayi and tainan counties which surround the bfdea and the nation of taiwan as a whole were used as reference populations direct standardized mortality rates and genderspecific indirect standardized mortality ratios smrs were calculated for the four populationsresults the direct standardized mortality rate for cvd in taiwan decreased from 246103 personyear in 1971 to 063103 personyear in 2005 and women had significantly lower mortality than men smr 080 p 005 the cvd mortality rates of populations with chronic arsenic exposure were significantly higher than the reference populations smr ranging from 106 to 109 in men and 112 to 114 in women p 005 the bfdea had higher cvd mortality rates than the lyb with smr 105 p 005 in men and smr 104 p 005 in womenconclusion in taiwan while cvd mortality decreased in both genders between 1971 and 2005 chronic arsenic exposure from drinking water was associated with increased risks of cvd