Dietary exposure to inorganic arsenic in the European population

Abstract

Arsenic is a ubiquitous metalloid present at low concentrations in rocks, soil and natural ground water. A total of 103 773 food samples (including drinking water) were used to calculate dietary exposure to inorganic arsenic (iAs). Of these, 101 020 were based on total arsenic (tAs) and 2 753 on iAs. Among the reported results on tAs, 66.1 % were below the limit of detection or quantification (left-censored); for the reported data on iAs the percentage of left-censored data was 41.9 %. Most of the data (92.5 %) reported as tAs were converted to iAs using different approaches before calculating dietary exposure to iAs. The EFSA Comprehensive European Food Consumption Database was used to estimate chronic dietary exposure to iAs using 28 surveys from 17 European countries. According to the scenarios used for the treatment of left-censored data, mean dietary exposure among infants, toddlers and other children ranged from 0.20 to 1.37 μg/kg b.w. per day, while the 95 th percentile dietary exposure estimates ranged from 0.36 to 2.09 μg/kg b.w. per day. Mean dietary exposure among the adult population (including adults, elderly and very elderly) ranged from 0.09 to 0.38 μg/kg b.w. per day, and 95 th percentile dietary exposure estimates ranged from 0.14 to 0.64 μg/kg b.w. per day. For all the age classes except infants and toddlers, the main contributor to dietary exposure to iAs was the food group 'Grain-based processed products (non rice-based)', in particular, wheat bread and rolls. Other food groups that were important contributors to iAs exposure were rice, milk and dairy products (main contributor in infants and toddlers), and drinking water. The most important sources of uncertainty in the present assessment are related to the heterogeneity of the food consumption data, the conversion of tAs into iAs and to the treatment of the leftcensored data. SUMMARYThe current report provides information on the levels of arsenic (total arsenic (tAs) and inorganic arsenic (iAs)) found in a range of foods on the European market classified according to the FoodEx classification system (EFSA, 2011a). In addition, it provides estimates of chronic dietary exposure to iAs in Europe using individual consumption data from the EFSA Comprehensive European Food Consumption Database (EFSA, 2011b).Arsenic is a ubiquitous metalloid present at low concentrations in rocks, soil and natural ground water. In natural ground water, arsenic is typically present in inorganic forms (As(III), As(V) or a combination of both); organic forms are rare in water as they are the result of biological activity. Although dermal and inhalation exposure is possible, food and drinking water are the principal routes of exposure to arsenic (WHO, 2011a; IARC, 2012). Organic arsenic species such as arsenobetaine and different arsenosugars are the most common forms in seafood while in foods of terrestrial origin the predominant arsenic forms are iAs (both As(V) and As(III)) and single methylated arsenic species (methylarsonate, methylarsenite and dimethyla...

Detection of heavy metals in common vegetables at Varaždin City Market, Croatia

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Re‐evaluation of glutamic acid (E 620), sodium glutamate (E 621), potassium glutamate (E 622), calcium glutamate (E 623), ammonium glutamate (E 624) and magnesium glutamate (E 625) as food additives

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Food safety hazards in the European seaweed chain

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