Diet and toenail arsenic concentrations in a New Hampshire population with arsenic-containing water

Abstract

BackgroundLimited data exist on the contribution of dietary sources of arsenic to an individual’s total exposure, particularly in populations with exposure via drinking water. Here, the association between diet and toenail arsenic concentrations (a long-term biomarker of exposure) was evaluated for individuals with measured household tap water arsenic. Foods known to be high in arsenic, including rice and seafood, were of particular interest.MethodsAssociations between toenail arsenic and consumption of 120 individual diet items were quantified using general linear models that also accounted for household tap water arsenic and potentially confounding factors (e.g., age, caloric intake, sex, smoking) (n = 852). As part of the analysis, we assessed whether associations between log-transformed toenail arsenic and each diet item differed between subjects with household drinking water arsenic concentrations <1 μg/L versus ≥1 μg/L.ResultsAs expected, toenail arsenic concentrations increased with household water arsenic concentrations. Among the foods known to be high in arsenic, no clear relationship between toenail arsenic and rice consumption was detected, but there was a positive association with consumption of dark meat fish, a category that includes tuna steaks, mackerel, salmon, sardines, bluefish, and swordfish. Positive associations between toenail arsenic and consumption of white wine, beer, and Brussels sprouts were also observed; these and most other associations were not modified by exposure via water. However, consumption of two foods cooked in water, beans/lentils and cooked oatmeal, was more strongly related to toenail arsenic among those with arsenic-containing drinking water (≥1 μg/L).ConclusionsThis study suggests that diet can be an important contributor to total arsenic exposure in U.S. populations regardless of arsenic concentrations in drinking water. Thus, dietary exposure to arsenic in the US warrants consideration as a potential health risk.

Arsenic levels from different land-use settings in Pakistan: Bio-accumulation and estimation of potential human health risk via dust exposure

“…S2), which signifies that hair and nail samples are effective biomarkers for As exposure . The data in Table 3 depict that our nail samples have lower and/or similar As levels than those reported from Bangladesh (Rahman et al, 2001;Rakib et al, 2013) and India (Samanta et al, 2004;Sanz et al, 2007;Rahman et al, 2001), but far higher than another study from Pakistan (Anwar, 2005), USA (Cottingham et al, 2013;Karagas et al, 2001) and Japan (Tabata et al, 2006). Since hair and nails have similar chemical nature, it can be expected that they would have similar As accumulation trends and patterns throughout the world.…”

“…Nevertheless, several studies have reported As levels in hair and nail along with water and soil of different areas (Tsuji et al, 2005;Chiou et al, 1997;Lin et al, 1998) but very few studies has reported their association with dust and air particles (Huang et al, 2014;Tsuji et al, 2005). Similarly, a number of studies have reported As concentrations in human nail and hair, and reported them as an effective bio-monitoring tool for As exposure (Cottingham et al, 2013;Rakib et al, 2013;Samanta et al, 2004;Sanz et al, 2007;Anwar, 2005), due to their keratin tissue composition, containing high cystein residues that have affinity for diverse metals transported via body fluids, thus become part of these metabolic inactive tissues (Tsuji et al, 2005 andHuang et al, 2014). Hence, once As is accumulated into these non-invasive tissues, can easily be collected and used to monitor past As exposure into human body (Gualt et al, 2008;Hinwood et al, 2003).…”

Placental arsenic concentrations in relation to both maternal and infant biomarkers of exposure in a US cohort

“…Within the NHBCS, total urinary arsenic and toenail arsenic concentrations have been shown previously to correlate with the arsenic concentration of household drinking water 21, 22 , and with the consumption of certain dietary items known to contain elevated concentrations of arsenic 17, 19, 20 . The arsenic biomarkers reported in this study, in addition to placenta, mirror previous findings.…”

“…17,18 Maternal toenails underwent an additional washing procedure that included manual removal of visible dirt and five washes in an ultrasonic bath using Triton X-100 (LabChem Inc., PA) and acetone followed by deionized water, and allowed to dry. All toenail samples were subject to low-pressure microwave digestion using the method outlined above for placenta digestions and were analyzed via ICP-MS.…”

The mechanistic basis of arsenicosis: Pathogenesis of skin cancer

“…A recent case–control study in New Hampshire found positive relationship between urinary arsenic metabolites and SCC incidence in humans [94]. Another investigation observed that dietary arsenic from atypical sources such as dark meat fish (e.g., tuna steaks, mackerel, salmon, sardines, bluefish, and swordfish) correlated closely with toenail arsenic concentrations, a common marker for arsenic exposure [95]. Further investigation in a population-based case–control study by the same group supported the finding that demonstrated a positive relationship between the consumption of long chain fatty acids, typically found in fish oils, and toenail arsenic.…”