The homeopathic antidote reduced the liver toxicity induced by arsenic in mice, where distilled water did nothing, and alcohol actually exacerbated the poison's effects.

Anisur Khuda-Bukhsh and his colleagues at the University of Kalyani, West Bengal, believe the remedy, called Arsenicum Album, might provide a safe, cheap and easily available remedy for the hundreds of millions of people around the world who are at risk from arsenic-poisoned water. It is a particular problem in some parts of West Bengal and neighbouring Bangladesh. Even if efforts to make drinking water arsenic-free succeed, contamination could still come from other sources, the researchers say, meaning other approaches are needed.

Khuda-Bukhsh told New Scientist the homeopathic remedy "can very well ameliorate the toxicity produced by arsenic oxide in mice". If the success could be repeated in humans, it would be "a boon to society", he says. However, other scientists remain sceptical...