Intake of arsenic and selenium in a Bangladeshi population investigated using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry

Abstract

Abstract. Millions of people in Bangladesh are exposed to high concentration of the toxic element arsenic (As) through drinking water and consumption of foods. It has also been reported that Bangladeshis have a low intake of the essential element selenium (Se), which is known to be important as an antioxidant and has been suggested to counteract the toxicity of As. We report here on total intake of As and Se in a Bangladeshi population, based on inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometric (ICP-MS) analysis of a range of Bangladeshi foods. The total daily intake of As and Se from foods was estimated to be 74.2 and 87.7 µg/day, respectively. If As from water, used for drinking and cooking rice, is included the TDI increases to 385 µg of total As per day. An important finding of our study, contrary to suggestions given in other reports, is that the Bangladeshi diet does not appear to be deficient in Se and this may explain why the blood Se concentrations in Bangladeshis is similar to the USA population. This requires further investigation and detailed dietary and human biomonitoring studies on the Bangladeshi population should be conducted. Rice and fish were the main sources of dietary As and Se for Bangladeshis. Leafy vegetables could also be a significant contributor of high concentration of As in the Bangladeshi diet. The flesh and eggs of Hilsha (Tenualosa ilisha) species of fish were found to contain particularly high levels of total arsenic (range 0.77-6.15 mg/kg) although this is likely to be dominated by the non-toxic organoarsenic species.

Changes in blood pressure associated with lead, manganese, and selenium in a Bangladeshi cohort

“…Without dietary data, we were additionally unable to characterize population-specific sources of manganese and selenium that may be utilized in future interventions. However, there are some data to suggest that rice and fish are the primary sources of selenium whereas drinking water and leafy vegetables contribute to manganese intakes in the Bangladeshi population (Al-Rmalli et al 2016;Rahman et al 2012). Lastly, this study was conducted within a sample of adults highly exposed to arsenic, so the results may not be generalizable to other populations.…”

Shaban Wanis Al-Rmalli: A life dedicated to application of chemistry for improving the environment and saving human lives

“…At De Montfort University Shaban Al-Rmalli, played a pivotal role in helping many other PhD students as well as masters and undergraduate students. The fact he was involved in the training of other students, including PhD students from Libya, is evident from publications where he has been included as a co-author [9,12,13,15].…”

“…(1) Dr. Antonio Signes-Pastor (ASP) with whom he published a paper on arsenic bioaccessibility from rice [9]:…”

Determination of arsenic, cadmium, selenium, zinc and other trace elements in Bangladeshi fish and arsenic speciation study of Hilsa fish flesh and eggs: Implications for dietary intake

“…Total concentrations of As, Cd, Pb, Mn, Se and Zn in the digested samples were determined by ICP-MS (Thermo-Fisher Scientific X-SeriesII). Details of ICP-MS conditions used are similar to those reported previously (Al-Rmalli et al [4,5]). The analytical procedure and the reliability of the digestion process was validated by analysis of standard reference materials (Typical Japanese food (NIES) No.…”