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Updated: Jul 19, 2026
08:21
Determination of Inorganic Arsenic in a Wide Range of Food Matrices using Hydride Generation - Atomic Absorption Spectrometry.
Published on: September 1, 2017
Seafood arsenic: implications for human risk assessment.
Jonathan Borak1, H Dean Hosgood
1Departments of Medicine and Epidemiology and Public Health, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA. jborak@jborak.com <jborak@jborak.com>
Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology : RTP
|November 10, 2006
Summary
Dietary seafood contains arsenic, primarily organic forms. While generally considered non-toxic, new research suggests potential carcinogenicity in rodents, necessitating further risk assessment for human consumption.
Area of Science:
- Environmental Health
- Toxicology
- Food Safety
Background:
- Chronic arsenic exposure risks are known from drinking water and workplace air.
- Dietary arsenic, mainly from seafood, has received less attention.
- Most seafood arsenic is organic and historically deemed non-toxic.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the health risks of arsenic in seafood.
- To identify arsenic species and metabolites in dietary seafood.
- To evaluate the toxicological profile of seafood-derived arsenic.
Main Methods:
- Review of existing literature on arsenic compounds in seafood.
- Analysis of metabolic processing and fate of ingested arsenic species.
- Dose-response curve analysis for carcinogenic mechanisms.
Main Results:
- Seafood is the primary source of arsenic in US diets (approx. 90%).
- Organic arsenic compounds dominate seafood, but some metabolites show carcinogenicity in rodents.
- Estimated margin of exposure is 10^3-10^4 between rodent carcinogenic doses and human consumption levels.
Conclusions:
- Seafood arsenic poses a potential risk that warrants further investigation.
- Understanding arsenic speciation and metabolism is crucial for accurate risk assessment.
- Current estimates suggest a significant safety margin, but caution is advised.
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