As of 2026-09-11 · the last 10 years
Research intensity has remained essentially flat, holding at about 95% of the element's all-time peak, which occurred in 2011, outside this window.
Research intensity ran from about 94% of the element's own all-time peak in 2016 to about 95% in 2026 — essentially flat across the window, and the all-time peak (2011) lies before this window. Over the same span its share of research attention across all elements rose. Among the 118 elements, arsenic has a larger-than-average research literature.
The number of papers involving the element rose from about 25,479 in 2016 to about 44,730 in 2025 (1.76x). That is slower than the literature as a whole grew over the same years, so the element lost ground in the wider body of research even as its own count rose.
The core of arsenic research remains Arsenic Contamination, Removal, and Health Risk Assessment. This community focuses on arsenic toxicity, accumulation, and speciation, particularly in water and soil contexts. Arsenic is central to this community, with about 70% of its papers involving the element. It accounts for about 70% of the element's recent research, though this share has declined from about 75% in the previous period. A key anchor is the 2020 Science paper "Global threat of arsenic in groundwater," cited over 1,500 times, alongside the 2024 Nature Reviews Earth & Environment article "Arsenic and other geogenic contaminants in global groundwater," cited over 290 times.
A second significant area is Arsenic and Cadmium Stress in Rice Paddy Systems, a subcommunity within plant stress research. These papers examine arsenic accumulation in rice grains and paddy soils, specifically in the context of co-exposure with cadmium and lead. Arsenic is a minor presence in this much larger community, with only about 2% of its papers involving arsenic. However, it represents about 4% of arsenic's own research, holding steady from the previous period. The 2025 Science paper "Global soil pollution by toxic metals threatens agriculture and human health," cited over 840 times, exemplifies this work.
Finally, Heavy Metal Toxicology and Human Health Risk Assessment covers the broader toxicological effects of heavy metals, including arsenic. While arsenic is one of several metals studied, this community accounts for about 3% of arsenic's recent research, a steady share compared to the previous period. The 2021 Frontiers in Pharmacology review "Toxic Mechanisms of Five Heavy Metals: Mercury, Lead, Chromium, Cadmium, and Arsenic," cited over 3,100 times, is a major reference here.
Overall, the literature is consolidating around contamination and health risks, with the core community losing a small share of attention to other areas, while the rice paddy and general toxicology communities remain stable.
For a deeper look at the current state of arsenic research, see the Last 12 Months and Executive Brief reports.
What changed in the past year: new papers, shifting applications, emerging collaborators. See the momentum over a shorter window than the decade view.
Personal →See recent trends — Personal.
A by-topic status read of what changed and what's new — built for decision-makers, not search engines. Citation clusters, emerging applications, and the papers that matter most.
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Showing Arsenic's three strongest connections. Personal opens the slider and the whole 118-element graph.