Opportunities and Challenges for Dietary Arsenic Intervention

Abstract

The diet is emerging as the dominant source of arsenic exposure for most of the U.S. population. Despite this, limited regulatory efforts have been aimed at mitigating exposure, and the role of diet in arsenic exposure and disease processes remains understudied. In this brief, we discuss the evidence linking dietary arsenic intake to human disease and discuss challenges associated with exposure characterization and efforts to quantify risks. In light of these challenges, and in recognition of the potential longer-term process of establishing regulation, we introduce a framework for shorter-term interventions that employs a field-to-plate food supply chain model to identify monitoring, intervention, and communication opportunities as part of a multisector, multiagency, science-informed, public health systems approach to mitigation of dietary arsenic exposure. Such an approach is dependent on coordination across commodity producers, the food industry, nongovernmental organizations, health professionals, researchers, and the regulatory community. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP3997.

Toxic Metal Species and ‘Endogenous’ Metalloproteins at the Blood–Organ Interface: Analytical and Bioinorganic Aspects

“…It is estimated that the emission of pollutants globally caused 9 million deaths in 2015 [ 127 ] and poses a significant burden on the global economy [ 128 ]. Even though a variety of efforts are underway to reduce human exposure to toxic metal species [ 129 , 130 , 131 ], their inadvertent introduction into the food chain is being increasingly recognized [ 132 ]. In addition, there is direct experimental evidence that human exposure to toxic metals adversely affects organs [ 133 ], pregnancy outcomes [ 64 ] and neurodevelopment in children [ 9 ].…”

The Safe Urban Harvests Study: A Community-Driven Cross-Sectional Assessment of Metals in Soil, Irrigation Water, and Produce from Urban Farms and Gardens in Baltimore, Maryland

“…Because there are no regulations for metals in produce in the United States ( Nachman et al. 2017 , 2018 ), we used regulatory levels from World Health Organization’s Codex Alimentarius ( Food and Agriculture Organization 1995 ), which establishes regulatory levels for Cd and Pb in specific types or groupings of produce. To our knowledge, no regulatory guidance for the remaining metals exist (Excel Table S2).…”

Rice Consumption and Incidence of Bladder Cancer in the United States Population

“…Overall, brown rice consumption was associated with an elevated odds ratio among those with greater than 1 μg/L water arsenic (OR = 2.3, 95% CI: 0.6-9.3), but again with wide confidence intervals (Table and eTable 2). A conceivable explanation for our findings could be related to the typically higher i-As content of brown rice compared to white rice and, the potential increase of i-As burden in ready-to-eat rice if arsenic-contaminated cooking water is used 2,7 .…”

“…Inorganic arsenic (i-As) is an established human bladder carcinogen 1 . Generally, diet is considered the primary source of i-As for the U.S. and other populations around the world with access to relatively low arsenic drinking water 2,3 . Ingested i-As from rice is estimated to dominate the exposure 2 .…”

“…Generally, diet is considered the primary source of i-As for the U.S. and other populations around the world with access to relatively low arsenic drinking water 2,3 . Ingested i-As from rice is estimated to dominate the exposure 2 . Thus, we hypothesized that rice consumption may be related to bladder cancer incidence.…”