Arsenic species in seafood: Origin and human health implications

Abstract

The presence of arsenic in marine samples was first reported over 100 years ago, and shortly thereafter it was shown that common seafood such as fish, crustaceans, and molluscs contained arsenic at exceedingly high concentrations. It was noted at the time that this seafood arsenic was probably present as an organically bound species because the concentrations were so high that if the arsenic had been present as an inorganic species it would certainly have been toxic to the humans consuming seafood. Investigations in the late 1970s identified the major form of seafood arsenic as arsenobetaine [(CH 3 ) 3 As + CH 2 COO -], a harmless organoarsenic compound which, following ingestion by humans, is rapidly excreted in the urine. Since that work, however, over 50 additional arsenic species have been identified in marine organisms, including many important food products. For most of these arsenic compounds, the human toxicology remains unknown. The current status of arsenic in seafood will be discussed in terms of the possible origin of these compounds and the implications of their presence in our foods. Fig. 1 Structures of arsenic species especially relevant to the occurrence and metabolism of arsenic in seafood.

Arsenic Adsorption onto Minerals: Connecting Experimental Observations with Density Functional Theory Calculations

“…In addition to iAs, methylated As ) occur both naturally and due to anthropogenic sources [12,13]. Arsenic toxicity depends on the species present; a general trend of decreasing toxicity is: R 3 As > H 3 AsO 3 > H 3 AsO 4 > R 4 As + > As 0 , where R is an alkyl group or a proton [12,16].…”

“…Roxarsone (C 6 AsNH 6 O 6 ) is used as a supplement in chicken feed and ends up in waste from poultry operations [21]. In addition to natural and anthropogenic groundwater contamination by As, anthropogenic As is contaminating the oceans, and subsequently seafood [16], which could have human health implications.…”

Environmental effects on arsenosugars and arsenolipids in Ectocarpus (Phaeophyta)

“…The AsPLs might therefore be formed first where the arsenosugars (AsSugars) are subsequently a hydrolysed product of the AsPLs. [15] These arsenic species are closely related because AsPLs have the same AsSugar structure as one of the most common AsSugars, AsSugarPO 4 . The formation of lipids before sugars would be the opposite of the transformation scheme proposed by Edmonds et al [16] (Fig.…”

Intracellular Arsenic Speciation and Quantification in Human Urothelial and Hepatic Cells

“…High arsenic concentrations can be found in the urine of the consumers (Nakjima et al, 2006). Francesconi published in 2010 the detection of up to 50 different arsenic compounds in fish and seafood, whereas their toxicity still is widely unknown (Francesconi, 2010). Especially rice and rice products exhibit considerable noxious effects as they contain high doses of toxic inorganic arsenic (Meharg et al, 2008;Signes-Pastor et al, 2009;Sun et al, 2009) and form the nutrition base especially of the Asian people.…”