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Updated: Jul 15, 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
Arsenic in various foods: cumulative data.
C Uneyama1, M Toda, M Yamamoto
1Division of Safety Information on Drug, National Institute of Health Sciences, Food and Chemicals, Setagaya-ku Tokyo 158-8501, Japan. uneyama@nihs.go.jp
Food Additives and Contaminants
|May 10, 2007
Summary
This study analyzed arsenic levels in diverse foods, revealing seafood as the primary source of inorganic arsenic intake. Other food groups contribute minimally to overall arsenic exposure.
Area of Science:
- Food safety and toxicology
- Environmental chemistry
- Nutritional science
Background:
- Arsenic is a toxic element found in various foods.
- Understanding arsenic content distribution is crucial for risk assessment.
- Dietary intake is a significant route of human exposure to arsenic.
Purpose of the Study:
- To collate and analyze data on arsenic content across different food categories.
- To estimate the range and distribution of arsenic in foods.
- To assess the contribution of various food groups to inorganic arsenic intake.
Main Methods:
- Data compilation of approximately 2500 arsenic content values in foods.
- Categorization of food data into six groups: crops, milk/meat/egg, fish, algae, seafood, and others.
- Expression of arsenic content data using percentile graphs.
- Estimation of the inorganic arsenic ratio for each food group.
Main Results:
- Established a comprehensive dataset for arsenic content in foods.
- Percentile graphs provide a clear overview of arsenic ranges within food groups.
- Seafood identified as the predominant source of inorganic arsenic intake.
- Other food categories showed a relatively small contribution to overall arsenic intake.
Conclusions:
- The study provides a valuable resource for understanding dietary arsenic exposure.
- Seafood consumption is the main driver of inorganic arsenic intake.
- Minimizing arsenic exposure may focus on seafood consumption patterns.
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